Brooklyn Nets got down to work this past morning to close deals that, even though minor, change the team’s present to the point of saving eight million in the luxury tax; yes, in the same way it has caused two players to be left without a team: Edmon Sumner and Sekou Doumbouya. We explain it.
Beginning with the closed trade with the Houston Rockets, the New York franchise has sent Sekou Doumbouya and a second round of the draft to Texas, receiving $ 110,000 in return. The movement, advanced by Shams Charania de The Athletic, supposed that Brooklyn at that moment saved up to 22 million dollars in luxury tax, amount that would later be reduced by agreeing to another trade with the Indiana Pacers.
In that second case, it has been the Nets that have received Edmond Sumner and a second round of the draft for 2025 (via Miami), in turn transferring the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet to the Indianapolis team. This exchange, which was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and shortly after Michael Scotto completed HoopsHype, supposes a final cost for Brooklyn of 14 million dollars, so according to calculations of NBC Sports, what they finally save in luxury tax is 8 million dollars.
Doumbouya and Sumner, the victims
They have changed teams, but not to start a new adventure, but to be free agents in a matter of days. Sekou Doumbouya and Edmond Sumner must begin to carve out a new future from this very moment, since the first will be cut by Houston according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, while the second will run the same fate in Brooklyn.
The Doumbouya case is somewhat surprising. When he came to the NBA in 2019 and started playing for Detroit, the general consideration is that he was a player with the qualities to have a good career in American competition; however, his status has dropped so much that Texans see it only as a salary they must absorb for landing a second round. The future of No. 15 in the 2019 draft is up in the air.
If anything, more worrying is Sumner’s situation. In weeks he has gone from being a player with a fixed position in Indiana to suffering a torn Achilles tendon and being without a team, as the Nets are going to cut him. At 25 years old, he has to focus on a tough recovery, trusting that within a year some team will give him a chance.
(Photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
