The Oklahoma City Thunder are trading Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Sunday, July 19.
OKC gets back three second-round draft picks from the Hawks in exchange for Dort; Atlanta is also sending guard Ryan Nembard to the Dallas Mavericks for former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher.
With this trade, the Thunder have now acquired seven second-round picks this offseason after previously trading Aaron Wiggins to the Hawks and Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for two second-round picks apiece. Dort had a $17.7 million team option and rather than declining it to save cap space and let him walk for nothing, general manager Sam Presti decided to pick it up and get some value for the first-team All-Defensive wing.
Now, Dort is in a position to get the long-term contract he wouldn’t have been able to in OKC and will reunite with Wiggins in Atlanta, where he projects as an ideal defensive fit alongside Dyson Daniels and Nickiell Alexander-Walker.
Dallas had been previously linked to Risacher at the 2026 trade deadline when his name came up as a possible candidate for an Anthony Davis trade, though his hand surgery ended up nixing any interest the Hawks had in a deal and the Mavs ended up sending Davis to the Washington Wizards instead.
In seven seasons since arriving in OKC as an undrafted free agent, Dort averaged 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists while establishing himself as one of the NBA’s premier perimeter defenders.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: OKC Thunder trade wing Lu Dort to Atlanta in three-team deal
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