It has been a crazy offseason for Sekou Doumbouya. The former Detroit Pistons first-rounder was traded from Detroit to the Brooklyn Nets. He played one preseason game with Brooklyn before being traded to the Houston Rockets. On that same night, it was announced the Rockets would be releasing the former 15th overall pick.
A week removed from his release into free agency, Doumbouya appears to have found a new home. The Athletic‘s Shams Charania reported the former lottery pick has agreed to a two-way deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers are progressing toward a two-way deal with free agent forward Sekou Doumbouya, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Doumbouya was the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 12, 2021
The 20-year-old joins a Lakers team full of veteran players, and he can learn a lot from all of them.
Detroit Pistons: Sekou Doumbouya will get a chance to learn from some of the greats
Superstars Lebron James and Anthony Davis, former All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, and high-end role players like Trevor Ariza can all provide the 20-year-old mentorship to aid in his thus far slow development.
To this point in his young career, Doumbouya has not lived up to the expectations of a lottery pick. The 20-year-old struggled with consistency and efficiency in Detroit. From year one to year two Doumbouya saw his minutes decrease along with the rest of his box-score numbers. With his career trajectory heading in the wrong direction in Detroit, it was time for a change of scenery for Doumbouya.
In his lone preseason game with the Nets, the power forward played well. In 12 minutes on the court, Doumbouya scored 11 points while nailing all three of his shots from the floor and sinking all five of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Doumbouya’s two-way contract means he will spend the majority of the 2021-22 season with Los Angeles’ G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. An opportunity to find consistent minutes in the G-League is the best thing for Doumbouya at this point in his career.
Every aspect of Doumbouya’s game needs work. He entered the league as a raw prospect and has remained that way for the previous two seasons. In the G-League Doumbouya will have every opportunity to develop into a more consistent and well-rounded player.
If Doumbouya can develop into an NBA-caliber player, he could be part of the next Lakers core after James and Westbrook inevitably retire in the coming years. He likely will not become a perennial All-Star for Los Angeles, but he could become a reliable role-player for them.
Now there is no guarantee Doumbouya will develop into an NBA-caliber player. After two years with the Detroit Pistons, the young forward has not shown much improvement in his play. This could be drawn up to a lack of opportunities, but Detroit was a lottery team in both of the last two seasons. There should have been plenty of opportunities for Doumbouya to find minutes. Whether it was his inconsistent play, lack of confidence from the coaching staff or front office, or some combination of the two, the minutes simply were not there for Doumbouya.
Doumbouya is still only 20 years of age. He has youth on his side. Time in the G-League and learning from some of the games legends should help the forward’s development moving forward.
The 20-year-old had a strong final stretch with Detroit in the 2020-21 season. In his final eight games, Doumbouya averaged 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 28.1 minutes per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor.
If Doumbouya can build off of his strong finish from last season and his solid preseason game with the Nets, he could very well end up reviving his NBA career.