The Oklahoma City Thunder’s decision to move on from Lu Dort says plenty about how their Western Conference Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs lingered.
Dort, the longest-tenured player on the roster and a homegrown piece, was traded to the Atlanta Hawks after a postseason in which his offense never really showed up against San Antonio. The Thunder had already dropped four of five regular-season meetings with the Spurs, then lost the West finals in seven games.
That series featured big nights from Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, plus strong work from role players on both sides. But Dort’s numbers stood out for the wrong reasons. He defended well, but he managed only 4.3 horribly inefficient points per game across the seven contests.
He has never been known as a polished scorer. Over seven seasons, all as a starter, Dort averaged 11.6 points and shot 35.8 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers were manageable for a while, but in a lineup built around balance, he remained the most obvious offensive weak spot.
The Spurs made that weakness look bigger in the playoffs, holding him to 20 percent shooting from deep. He got open looks and still couldn’t cash them in.
“Just going back to that series, you still have to do things to combat the San Antonio Spurs, and you got to have more shooting on the floor,” summed up ESPN's Vince Goodwell. “And although the numbers sometimes will say that you have to guard Lu Dort, sometimes you don't.”
That matters because the Thunder had other options. Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Jared McCain, and Jaylin Williams all gave them more scoring in the postseason, and all four come cheaper and with fewer limitations. Once Oklahoma City needed to trim salary, Dort became the easiest piece to move.
There was also the matter of his reputation. Around the league, he’s known as a pest. But unlike Draymond Green, who has four rings and four All-Star appearances to lean on, Dort has never been a star.
“I wonder if some of that stuff plays a small factor in this, if the juice is no longer worth the squeeze when you have so many young players on the back end ready to take on bigger roles and that you have to make financial decisions on in the future,” Goodwell added.
In the end, the Thunder decided the cost outweighed the benefit. If the goal is to catch the Spurs in the West, parting with Dort looked like a price they were willing to pay.
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