It’s not unexpected that Lu Dort got traded this offseason.
Oklahoma City felt the pressure of the second apron closing in as the max extensions for Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams kicked in for next season, and some depth was going to be sacrificed. Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins were already gone, but Dort is making $18.2 million next season and is up for an extension the Thunder couldn’t swing, so the sides were always likely to part.
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Atlanta stepped up, Dallas jumped in, and we have a three-team trade. Who are the winners and losers? Let’s break it all down, starting with a reminder of the trade itself:
Oklahoma City receives: Three future second-round picks
Atlanta receives: Luguentz Dort, Ryan Nembhard
Dallas receives: Zaccharie Risacher
This just adds to what has been a strong offseason for the Hawks — they got the best player in this trade.
Atlanta is building a defensive juggernaut and adding Lu Dort — an All-Defensive Team player a season ago — behind Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker is just fearsome. Coach Quin Snyder has some decisions to make because playing Daniels and Dort together could be an offensive issue, but this is still a good problem to have. Overall, adding Dort and Wiggins on the wing is an upgrade in Atlanta at the position, regardless of what happens with Jonathan Kuminga. Also, if the Hawks want to clear cap space next summer, they don’t have to re-sign Dort (or Nembhard).
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Also, adding Nembhard as a solid backup behind rookie Kingston Flemmings as the starter is a good bit of work.
One other note: It’s good work by Atlanta getting off Risacher rather than feeling they had to stick it out because he was the No. 1 pick. Granted, it was the previous front office that made the pick, still, it’s not something every team would do. It’s not that Risacher can’t take a step forward, he is just 21, but because Atlanta passed on Alex Sarr (No. 2) and Stephon Castle (No. 4) to take him, too many front offices wouldn’t want to make a change to prove they were right. Best to just cut your losses and move on, and the Hawks did.
Winner: Lu Dort
Dort isn’t a winner because he went from Oklahoma City to Atlanta, or because he’s in line for a bigger role, it’s because he can get paid in the ATL.
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Dort is eligible for an extension, and with the cap crunch hitting the Thunder that was not happening in Oklahoma City. In Atlanta, they have the cap space to pay the man, and that was likely part of why they traded for him. Dort is not due a big raise, he likely makes something in the ballpark of what he does now (maybe a little less the first year), but he can get a bag in the ATL and will take it.
Loser: Thunder fans
The winner for the Thunder out of this was Clay Bennett’s pocketbook, this move gets OKC well under the second apron. Also, this was another win for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the impact of the second apron of the luxury tax — at the expense of fans. When Silver defends the second apron, he talks about parity — he loves to talk about the eight different champions in eight different years — and he sounds like a fantasy owner happy to see players as two-dimensional pawns moved around the board to flatten the talent base. That ignores the connection fans form with players.
Lu Dort was one of the fan favorites in Oklahoma City — the player who hustles every second and does all the little things is someone fans always connect with.
Now, that connection is gone. It’s not going to hurt the Thunder on the court much — another elite defender in Cason Wallace slides in to be a full-time starter, and Alex Caruso still comes off the bench — but it’s another little loss for the Thunder’s depth, along with Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins moving on. All that so the Thunder could get below the second apron.
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The more blatant case of this same phenomenon was Boston’s front office feeling it had to trade Jaylen Brown for financial reasons — an elite player for the Celtics who was always very active in the community, gave back and was beloved for that as much as for his play. But Brown and now Dort on the move is what Silver and the owners want, and the price they may pay in fan loyalty doesn’t seem to bother them in the least.
Winner: Zaccharie Risacher
Sometimes, a player just needs a fresh start.
That’s what Risacher gets by going to a new city with a new coaching staff led by Dusty May. Risacher is just 21 years old and is an athletic 6’8″ wing who has his moments, averaging 9.6 points per game last season, shooting 36.8% from 3 (and a true shooting percentage right at the league average). Put him next to Cooper Flagg and see what happens.
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The fact that the Hawks were willing to walk away is concerning, and Dallas gave up a good player in Nembhard and a second-round pick to get him, which is more than some might have paid, but Risacher gets the chance to prove them all wrong with a clean slate. We’ll see what he does with it.
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