Thunder trade Lu Dort to the Hawks

Per ESPN, the Oklahoma City Thunder are trading Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that will bring back three second rounders to OKC.

Before free agency, Thunder Executive VP & GM Sam Presti picked up Dort's $17.7MM team option for this season and the team maintained its posture of being comfortable entering the season over the second apron for the first time. But OKC will duck the second apron by shedding Dort's salary outright, as it did with Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe earlier this summer. While all three players have played significant roles for OKC during the championship era, Dort is the first playoffs fixture to depart after the team's disappointing loss to the Spurs in the 2026 Western Conference Finals.

The Thunder remain above the first apron and well above the luxury tax line with the 15th roster spot open, and a veteran minimum salary would not push them back over the second apron. They do not have to fill that slot before or during the season, as 14 players is the league minimum. I wouldn't anticipate them to be in any rush, with three 22-and-youngers opening the season (Jared McCain, Nikola Topic, and Thomas Sorber) alongside rookies Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz.

After pleading for Cason Wallace to supplant Dort in the starting lineup against San Antonio, I expected Wallace to get the starting nod in the upcoming regular season--whether or not Wallace secured an extension (still TBD) or Dort remained on the roster. That now feels like a lock, but Mark Daigneault could instead flex Ajay Mitchell in with the starters (or something more surprising).

Dort was close with SGA and a key part of the team's championship fabric. Fans (including yours truly) will spend the offseason reminiscing over his contributions, which culminated on the path to Oklahoma City's first title in 2025. Lu was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's only remaining teammate from the 2019-20 season (Shai's first with the Thunder), when Dort signed with Oklahoma City on a two-way contract after going undrafted. By January, he had gritted his way into the starting role he'd keep for the next seven seasons, helping build OKC's hard-nosed defensive culture and earning a reputation for being one of the toughest point-of-attack defenders against the league's very best scorers.

There is more business left for OKC this summer, but the biggest decision about the Thunder's roster heading into 2026-27 is now behind us. Stay tuned for more on Dort's legacy and Oklahoma City's future in the coming weeks.