Using NBA 2K20 to predict Sekou Doumbouya’s future

Year four

This is where things start to take a massive turn. Heading into his fourth season in Detroit, Sekou had jumped all the way up to an 85 overall. At this point, the roster was made up of a bunch of players who were signed by the computer, along with Sekou and Ball.

As far as expectations go, I was under the impression that it would be a repeat year of poor team play with Sekou getting his number up, and nothing more.

Then the Pistons jumped out to a record of 22-5, and I paused the simulation to see what was happening.

Sekou was still set as the top scoring option, and this had lead to him averaging 29.1 points and 11.2 rebounds per game on 51.2 percent shooting through the first 27 games to open the year.

His new career high in points had been set just a few games earlier, when he put up 44 points against the Boston Celtics.

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As the year went on, Detroit’s record slipped a bit, as did Sekou’s numbers, but they still managed to secure a spot in the playoffs as the fourth seed.

He ended his fourth year scoring 25.9 points and securing 10.6 rebounds per game on 49.5 percent shooting. His emergence as a scorer had surpassed what we envisioned he could do.

He was also averaging 1.7 steals per game, so his defensive prowess had clearly arrived as well.

The Pistons wound up losing in five games to the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, which was a massive disappointment.

Then an even worse development arrived. Free agency arrived, and Sekou’s “morale” said that he was looking to explore other options. This couldn’t happen.

When free agency officially opened, because Detroit owns his Bird rights, they were able to offer more money than anyone else.

But, it didn’t matter. After just four years with the Pistons, Sekou signed a massive four year contract worth $120 million with the Dallas Mavericks. The dream, the hope, and the vision was over.

Let’s just hope things work out differently when the time comes in real life.