Nets trade DeAndre Jordan, draft picks to Pistons for Jahlil Okafor, Sekou Doumbouya

The Nets and Pistons have reached an agreement on a trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that Detroit will acquire center DeAndre Jordan, four second-round picks and $5.78M in cash. Brooklyn will receive Jahlil Okafor and Sekou Doumbouya in return.

The draft picks headed to Detroit in the deal are the Nets’ own 2022 and 2027 second-round picks, plus the Wizards’ or Grizzlies’ 2024 second-rounder (whichever is more favorable) and the Warriors’ or Wizards’ 2025 second-rounder (whichever is more favorable), sources tell ESPN.

According to Wojnarowski, the plan is for the Pistons to work out a buyout agreement with Jordan, who has about $20M left on his contract over the next two years.

The Nets had been trying for much of the offseason to find a taker for Jordan, a three-time All-NBA center who joined the team as a free agent in 2019 along with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving but fell out of the rotation in 2020-21. A report earlier this week indicated Jordan and the Nets were exploring a possible buyout — now it’ll be up to the Pistons to complete those talks.

Although the Nets had to give up four second-round picks to dump Jordan’s salary, the financial benefits will be significant, according to Wojnarowski, who notes that the club will save $47M in the deal. That money could be reinvested in buying back second-round picks down the road. However, as Woj points out, Brooklyn is confident in its ability to acquire minimum-salary talent to complement its Durant/Irving/James Harden core, as the team did this week by reaching an agreement with Paul Millsap.

The Nets will also acquire a pair of players in the deal, but it’s unclear if either Okafor or Doumbouya are in their plans. Millsap will be Brooklyn’s 13th player on a guaranteed contract — not counting Okafor or Doumbouya — and DeAndre’ Bembry has a substantial partial guarantee, making him the front-runner to be the team’s 14th man. Free agents like LaMarcus Aldridge and Isaiah Hartenstein have also been rumored as targets for the club. Perhaps the Nets will give Doumbouya — 2019’s No. 15 pick — a shot, but I’d be surprised if they retain Okafor.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes, Brooklyn will create a $6.27M trade exception in the swap, which is the difference between Jordan’s $9.88M salary and Doumbouya’s $3.61M figure. Okafor can be acquired using the minimum-salary exception, so the Nets don’t need to match his salary.

As for the Pistons, they’ll take on some dead money as a result of this transaction, but the pros outweigh the cons. Detroit had traded away its own second-round picks from 2022 through 2026 in previous deals, so this gives general manager Troy Weaver a chance to restock his cache of draft assets. Additionally, the $5.78M in cash the Pistons are getting in the deal — which is the max the Nets could offer — will help cover some of Jordan’s salary.

On top of that, the Pistons had been facing a roster crunch, with 16 players on guaranteed contracts. A two-for-one trade, followed by a Jordan buyout, will reduce that number to 14, giving Detroit an open roster spot to work with. The club could give a camp invitee such as Jamorko Pickett the opportunity to earn that spot this fall or could simply carry 14 players to start the regular season.

Once Jordan is bought out, he’ll be officially placed on waivers and will become an unrestricted free agent two days later. Multiple recent reports have suggested the Lakers are a suitor to keep an eye on, and Wojnarowski reiterates that point, calling Los Angeles a “serious contender” to sign the veteran center.