The Oklahoma City Thunder moving on from Lu Dort this summer was a move the majority of the NBA community expected for some time now. And the widely anticipated move came to be as OKC traded the fan favorite, to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade. For more breakdowns about the Hawks, check out this article by us here.
In this trade, the Hawks get Dort and Ryan Nembhard, the Mavericks receive Zaccharie Risacher, and the Thunder acquire three second-round picks. When looking at this trade from all three sides, there is no loser in this deal.
The Hawks are a winner in this trade, firstly because theyāre getting even better defensively. They ended this past season with the ninth-best defensive rating in the league at 113.7.
The Hawks were even better defensively than their regular season finish after trading Trae Young to the Wizards on January 7th. From that trade until the end of the regular season, they produced a 112.0 defensive rating, ranking seventh in the NBA during this span.
The Hawks are getting a very good point-of-attack defender in Dort, one who can guard positions one through four. Despite the former OKC shooting guard only being 6’3, his 6′ 9 wingspan and sturdy build allows him to defend bigger guards and wing creators.
The Hawks are bringing in a defender who’s great at navigating screens on the ball. With the build of a NFL strong safety, itās almost impossible for offensive players to bump Dort and create space to get a shot off. He’s someone that will guard the other teamās best offensive perimeter player, picking him up full court, and hound him for all forty-eight minutes.
Atlanta’s new acquisition off-ball defense is not on the same level as his on-ball defense; in this regard, Dort is just okay. He will make good rotations and use his quick hands to play in the passing lanes and capitalize on lazy passes. Overall, the one-time first-team All-Defense member isn’t as disruptive off the ball as he is on it.
The Hawks are trading for a limited offensive player; on this end, Dort’s role is being a spot-up shooter. Heās tasked to shoot spot-up catch-and-shoot threes, attack a closeout, or make the simple pass to keep the defense in rotation.
There are peaks and valleys with Dort, since he’s not a reliable three-point shooter off the catch. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he shot 39.9% and 42.2% on 4.5 or more catch-and-shoot threeās a game. Unfortunately in every other season of his career, heās never shot better than 36.9% on catch-and-shoot threes while on similar volume.
Outside of the Thunderās 2024 playoff run, where Dort made 38.9% of his catch-and-shoot threes on 5.4 attempts. Heās never shot better than 34.9% on three-pointers off the catch.
Atlanta could stomach this if Dort’s catch-and-shoot threes were over a tight contest. Instead, the majority of his catch-and-shoot threes are either open or wide-open shots.
The Hawks also have to factor in Dort’s other offensive limitations. He’s not being a self-creator at all and being below average attacking closeouts. Whether that be attacking a closeout to get to the basket, where heās bad finishing at the rim. Never having a rim FG% above 65.1% or better than the 52nd percentile, both marks coming this previous season.
Atlanta will also witness this when Dort attacks a closeout and attempts to make the correct pass, where heās slow at processing the floor. This slow processing leads to him either make the wrong read or throw a turnover, losing the advantage a teammate created before he received the ball.
Oklahoma City halfcourt offense has cratered in the minutes Dort is on the floor, almost completely negating his defensive impact. Over their past three playoff runs, they have a +3.1 NET rating when Dort is on the floor, with a 114.7 offensive rating and a 111.6 defensive rating.
The Hawks have to bring Dort off the bench, since he and Dyson Daniels on the floor together would be too destructive for their halfcourt offense come playoff time. Both are three-point shooters off the catch that defenses are willing to leave open.
The Hawks are receiving another expiring contract in this deal, as they currently have four players on expiring deals: Dort, Jock Landale, CJ McCoullum, Mo Gueye, and Nembhard. Dort, Landale, and McCollumās contracts are each over fourteen million.
Atlanta has the opportunity to use Dort, Landale, and McCoullm’s contracts combined at the trade deadline to bring in a player to better help them win now. They could also trade those expiring contracts to acquire more draft capital.
The Hawks will either get a role player in Dort who makes the team better via himself or his contract will bring in that kind of player in a trade. Or gets used in a trade to bolster Atlantaās already good pick situation.
The Dallas Mavericks in this trade get a player theyāve been coveting for months. Dallas president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz, according to reports, had been interested in the 2024 first overall pick throughout this summer.
Zaccharie Risacher’s rookie season while not anything special, wasn’t awful either. In 24.6 minutes per game, he averaged 12.6 points per game, shooting 45.8% from the field and 35.5% from three on 4.6 attempts a game.
This past season he didn’t take a step forward, instead taking a step backwards. During his sophomore campaign, his minutes decreased to 22.4 minutes per game. In addition to averaging only 9.6 points per game, shooting 45.5% from the field, and 36.8% from three on 3.9 attempts a night.
The Hawks didn’t even have Risacher apart of their playoff rotation. Only playing in 7.7 minutes per game and received three coach DNPās in their first-round series against the Knicks.
Once the Hawks were eliminated in the playoffs it was clear that Risacher lost the trust of head coach Quinn Snyder. Now the Mavericks get to buy low on the former number one overall pick.
Dallas will see if, with a new change of scenery he can grow into a solid role player and be a part of their core theyāre trying to build around Cooper Flagg. If it works out this way, thatās great. They gave up only one second-round pick and a third-string point guard for a solid role player on a team-controlled rookie-scale deal for the next two years.
Itās no harm done for the Mavericks if Risacher doesn’t work out. The young forward has a team option for next season which they can decline, clearing over seventeen million off their salary sheet.
The Thunder made this move as one of three trades this summer to shed salary and get under the second apron. Heading into the offseason, they were well above the second apron and paying a hefty luxury tax bill.
OKC sat 29.9 million above the second apron space and had a luxury tax penalty of 224.7 million after trading Aaron Wiggins to the Hawks for two future second-round picks. After trading Isaiah Joe to the Pistons for two future second-round picks, they were 18.8 million above the second apron space and had a luxury tax penalty of 150.2 million.
The Thunder after trading Dort to Atlanta head into the season 6.9 million below the second apron space and only with a luxury tax penalty of 19.7 million. This trade, leaves enough second apron space for OKC to sign a fifteenth player without going over.
The Thunder needed this new financial flexibility, since Shai Gilgeous-Alexanderās supermax extension takes effect next offseason. More importantly, Cason Wallace is eligible for an extension, and the Thunder will extend him sooner rather than later.
Wallace is only 22 years old and has shown continuous improvement over each season of his career. He’s arguably already devolved into a better defender than Dort. The former Kentucky guard has the upside to get even better on this end, while already being a better offensive player than Dort.
In conclusion, this trade benefits all parties involved. The Hawks add an above average role player while improving their trade prospects for this year’s trade deadline.
Dallas gets to take a dart throw on Risacher, who, if he pans out, can fit alongside Flagg. If he doesn’t, they can easily move on next offseason. OKC gets under the dreaded second apron, preparing themselves for Gilgeous-Alexanderās supermax and a Wallace contract extension.
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