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Falling short of a second NBA championship, the Oklahoma City Thunder could see some roster shakeups for the first time in a couple of summers. Reading the room, it feels like we're about to see some hurtful departures this offseason as they reconstruct the surrounding pieces.
One potential departure could hurt more than the rest. It feels like the Thunder and Lu Dort are about to go their separate ways. He's spent the first seven seasons of his career in OKC. Going from undrafted two-way rookie to an All-Defense and NBA champion starter, he's one of their best developmental stories ever.
That said, the writing has been on the wall all year. Dort's playing time dwindled the deeper the Thunder went into the NBA playoffs. His one-on-one defense wasn't as sharp and his outside shot crashed back down to Earth all year at 34.4% from 3 on 5.4 attempts. By the time OKC was booted out of the postseason, Cason Wallace surpassed him in the hierarchy.
With several Thunder players' futures up in the air this summer, it feels like Dort is the odd man out. Wallace could replace him in the starting lineup as he's ascended. It's also financially impossible to pay the 27-year-old what he'd likely command in contract negotiations. OKC's payroll is about to balloon up for the rest of the decade.
In comes the Los Angeles Lakers. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Lakers have called the Thunder about a potential trade for Dort. Remains to be seen if a contract extension would be part of the deal or if Los Angeles will make him play out the last year of his deal, hoping he plays extra motivated for a future payday.
"I’m also told that the Lakers have called the Thunder about swingman Lu Dort’s availability," Fischer wrote. "Oklahoma City is facing a well-chronicled roster crunch, with 15 players currently under contract and two first-round picks to make at Nos. 12 and 17 barring draft-night trade activity, sparking a belief that the Thunder might be open to trading Dort after picking up his $17.2 million team option to make it easier to re-sign big man Isaiah Hartenstein."
Of course, the Thunder kicked the Lakers out of the NBA playoffs with a Round 2 sweep. Examining their roster, they desperately need more high-end defenders. And it wasn't that long ago when Luka Doncic called Dort one of the top defensive players in the league. Now, being teammates is a real possibility. Just depends on what OKC could get back from Los Angeles.
We'll see how things shake out in the coming weeks. But it feels like the Thunder and Dort are about to go in different directions. As painful as that will be, it makes basketball sense for both sides.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Rumor: Lakers have called OKC Thunder about a potential trade for Lu Dort
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