By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After spending two years with the Houston Rockets, Usman Garuba is set to move via trade to the Atlanta Hawks.
Garuba, 21, will be part of a deal also including TyTy Washington Jr. and future draft picks en route from Houston to Atlanta, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
Coming off the 2022 EuroBasket championship with Spain, he averaged 3.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per contest in the 2022-23 Regular Season. The young big made his way to 75 games but was limited to 12.9 minutes per appearance. A left wrist injury and eventually having surgery held him to 24 appearances in 2021-22, after being picked up with the 23rd selection of the 2021 NBA draft.
The second-round selections being attached to the 2025 and 2028 drafts, along with the Rockets also sending 1.1 million dollars in cash considerations were reported by Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Lauren Williams. In return, the draft rights of French-Guinean forward/center Alpha Kaba will end up in Houston.
Kaba, 27, was the last pick, 60th overall, of the 2017 draft. His rights stayed put over the next six years. Displaying his talents in Europe, his career features 12 appearances in the Basketball Champions League as a member of Mega Leks before the draft and 54 games played in the 7DAYS EuroCup, split between LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, Nanterre 92, and Buducnost VOLI, as the Hawks kept him stashed outside the NBA.
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