Rockets trade for Sekou Doumbouya and second-round pick; will release him

In a little bit of an interesting move that happened right in the middle of last night’s game, the Houston Rockets swung a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for forward Sekou Doumbouya and a 2024 second round pick in exchange for $110,000.

Following the trade, the Rockets have decided to waive Doumbouya, meaning for all intents and purposes, they just bought a second-round pick off the Nets for the bargain basement price of $110K.

The Nets made a subsequent move with the Indiana Pacers to re-acquire a second-round pick, but the move for them saved approximately $8 million in salary and luxury taxes, and the Rockets were able to reap the benefits.

The 20-year-old Doumbouya was the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, but he just hasn’t come around, particularly with his shooting, with career percentages of of 38.4 percent from the field and 25.4 from deep.

Detroit moved Doumbouya to the Nets last month with Jahlil Okafor for Deandre Jordan. A bunch of picks also changed hands. But with tax concerns in BK, he didn’t hang around long.

No telling where the 6’8”, 230-pound Doumbouya goes from here, but someone is likely to give him a chance. He’s still pretty darn young, so I’d expect someone to pick him up. The Rockets simply don’t have any more room on their roster, but Rafael Stone did a really nice job securing that draft pick for hardly any cash.