The Oklahoma City Thunder are shipping two-way wing Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that also includes the Dallas Mavericks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday. Here are the details of that trade:
Hawks receive: Lu Dort, Ryan Nembhard
Thunder receive: three second-round picks
Mavericks receive: Zaccharie Risacher
The Hawks just stole Lu Dort from the Thunder
Dallas gets a low-risk flyer on Risacher, hoping his career trajectory benefits from a change of scenery. By pairing Risacher with Cooper Flagg, they now have the former No. 1 overall picks from 2024 and 2025.
The Thunder somehow continue to stockpile future draft capital, though the motivation behind this trade for them was also financial. As NBA salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan points out on X, there are no teams projected to be in the second apron this season, which would be the first time it's ever happened since being implemented.
We've seen these contenders like the Boston Celtics, and now the Thunder have to retool their rosters because of cap crunches, sacrificing talent in the process. It's fair to wonder whether the second apron is a good or bad thing for the NBA, but in this case, it was to the Hawks' benefit.
Dort would've helped Portland get back its defensive identity
Perhaps Oklahoma City was reluctant to send Dort to a team in the Western Conference, but this is absolutely a good value trade that the Portland Trail Blazers should've been exploring.
We've previously discussed how the Ja Morant trade was solid value in a vacuum but a poor fit, as it largely diminished the Blazers' established defensive identity. They could've gotten some of that back with a versatile defensive weapon in Dort, a 2025 All-Defensive First Team member.
Portland has one final spot left to fill out its 15-man roster and still needs to add forward depth. Dort's inefficient shooting and streakiness from the perimeter may not have been the perfect offensive fit, but it's surprisingly the defensive end that this team now needs to address to find a better roster balance. If they do plan on starting Ja Morant and Damian Lillard together in the backcourt, the Blazers are going to need pieces like Toumani Camara and Dort to help cover for their limitations.
Now, they'll have to continue their search elsewhere to find a two-way wing/forward to fill out this roster heading into 2026-27.
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