Drake Powell Is 1-for-25 at Summer League. His Coach Says Keep Shooting.

Drake Powell walked off the floor in Las Vegas on Friday with another zero in the scoring column. Zero points. Zero field goals. Zero threes. That makes three straight Summer League games where the Brooklyn Nets first-round pick has basically been invisible on offense.

Through three outings, Powell is 1-for-25 from the field and 0-for-12 from three-point range. For a guy trying to convince the Nets he belongs in their rotation next season, this is not the way to do it.

The good news? His defense has been legit. Summer League coach Dutch Gaitley pointed that out after Powell went 0-for-7 against the Hawks on Friday. We have full confidence in Drake taking the right shots, Gaitley said. He had a great drive, but the ball just didn’t go in. He’s been outstanding defensively. He’s done everything. It’s not easy for a young player to struggle offensively and still give great effort defensively, and he’s done that. I want him to keep shooting.

Gaitley added that Powell needs to push the ball in transition more and crash the offensive glass. All of us who played basketball, when the shot’s not dropping, it’s just how can I just see one go in? he said. We’re trying to help him along, and he’s doing a great job defensively. I have full confidence that the shot’s going to drop.

But defense alone won’t get Powell minutes in a crowded Nets backcourt. Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Demin are the presumed starters. Keon Ellis, Terance Mann, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf are all competing for second-unit minutes. Powell is in a real logjam.

His rookie season didn’t exactly scream future building block either. The 22nd pick averaged 6.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21 minutes per game across 63 appearances. He shot 28 percent from deep and 40 percent overall. He showed flashes of being able to create his own shot, but never consistently. The ball stuck in his hands too often. The jump shot was unreliable.

Powell still has a few more games in Vegas to snap out of this. The Nets face the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday and the Houston Rockets on Thursday. Maybe one make changes everything. Maybe it doesn’t.

Either way, Brooklyn’s coaching staff hasn’t lost faith. But faith only gets you so far in a league that measures everything by what goes in the box score.