Detroit Pistons: Was the Sekou Doumbouya trade a fleecing?

Sekou Doumbouya was suppose to be one of the cornerstones of the future for the Detroit Pistons franchise. Now, getting four second-rounders for him, might actually be considered a fleecing of the Brooklyn Nets.

Things change quickly in the NBA.

It is simply a fact that having four is better than one, and that is why the Pistons appear to have done very well in the trade of Sekou Doumbouya and Jahlil Okafor to the Brooklyn Nets.

Facing a roster logjam of too many players with guaranteed contracts for too few roster spots, Detroit general manager Troy Weaver swung a trade with the Nets to relieve that problem, and add some draft capital.

For taking on center DeAndre Jordan’s onerous contract, the Pistons unloaded Doumbouya and Okafor, plus received four second round picks.

(With all the cap space Detroit should have next season, Jordan’s contract will be easily absorbed)

The number four was not arbitrary. As part of the Luke Kennard trade, Detroit had to give the Clippers four second-round draft picks, as Los Angeles said they were concerned with his past knee problems and wanted some insurance. (The Clippers then signed Kennard to a big long-term deal, so they were not that concerned as it turned out).

A lot of fans were disappointed that Detroit gave up on Doumbouya, a 6-foot-9 forward, so early, particularly with the investment they had made in him.

Doumbouya had been the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the youngest first rounder in the draft, as he was only 18-years-old. His career has certainly been an up-and-down affair since.

Doumbouya played well in the G-League in Grand Rapids, and in certain games his rookie year (having a big performance against the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers). Due to the pandemic, there was no G-League last year, which really hurt his development.

Doumbouya had a yo-yo second season with the Pistons. Sometimes he played a lot, sometimes a few minutes. Still, the 6-foot-9 forward is still just 20, a little young to give up on.

However, it looks like other NBA teams do not have a high opinion of his eventual development either. Witness the transactions of the past few days:

• Brooklyn trades Doumbouya to Houston, throwing in 1 second-round pick to sweeten the deal. It was purely a luxury-tax salary dump.
• Houston, which is expected to have one of the worst teams in the NBA, immediately releases Doumbouya, even though taking chances on young players is kind of what they are doing right now. They are on the hook for his salary of over $3.5 million.

As of this writing, Doumbouya has no NBA team. In the past couple weeks, Doumbouya has been traded by the team that drafted him, and released two by other teams, including a team even more in a rebuilding phase than Detroit.

The funny part was, Doumbouya actually played well for Brooklyn in the one exhibition he saw action in: scoring 11 points in 12 minutes. Yet, five second-round draft choices have now been used by teams that got rid of him.

Doumbouya was always a good guy and Pistons fans certainly hope he hooks on with some team. However, his lack of worth around the league is surprising, which begs the question:

Did the Detroit Pistons fleece the Brooklyn Nets in the Sekou Doumbouya trade?

Now, there were some different parts in the deals that Doumbouya was involved with. Brooklyn was desperate to get rid of Jordan’s salary and the Pistons needed to move some bodies. The Nets still needed cap relief even after the Jordan trade. That is why the Frenchman was shipped to the Rockets, who really just wanted the draft pick.

The moves will ultimately save the Nets about $8 million in salary, which one needs to do when a team has three max deal players on its books.

But it is interesting that the Pistons received four second rounders to send Doumbouya to Brooklyn, but Houston took him for just one second-round pick (and it does not kick in until 2024 at that).

In evaluating the deal, one must, first, throw away the value of what you think Doumbouya is. He is worth what the market says he is.

Detroit got four draft picks in a trade, the Nets had to send a second rounder when they then decided to trade Doumbouya. And one has to wonder how much of a market there was for him, since the team that ultimately traded for him, obviously, did not plan on keeping him.

The Pistons got a decent amount of draft picks back (albeit in second round) for a player who the next team had to offer a second round draft choice, just to get a team to take him. Keeping that in mind, strictly in terms of receiving assets, Weaver might chalk up this transaction in the  ‘fleece’ category.

If things do not work out elsewhere, Doumbouya  could end up with the Pistons’ new G-League team, the Motor City Cruise. If Detroit’s’ former No. 1 pick actually returned to the franchise, with no need to give anything up, this trade definitely goes into the fleecing category.