Mavericks can offer Thunder the perfect way out of their Lu Dort problem

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a problem: if they don’t shed some salary this offseason, they will face a salary tax bill of over $213 million. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams will both receive their max extensions, which singlehandedly added over $50 million in salary.

To make next season financially feasible for the team, GM Sam Presti will likely have to move on from either Isaiah Hartenstein or Lu Dort, and of the two, Dort is the more expendable.

Dort has an $18.2 million team option for next season, giving the Thunder a path to pick up his option and immediately trade him to recover some value. If Dort indeed hits the market as many predict he will, the Dallas Mavericks are the perfect suitor for the seven-year veteran.

Lu Dort's skill set is exactly what the Mavericks are missing

With Dort, you know exactly what you’re getting. He has never been much of an offensive threat, posting an above-average true shooting percentage just twice in his career and thriving primarily as a catch-and-shoot specialist. But he thrives on defense and does all of the little things.

Dort is maybe the strongest player in the league relative to his height, which allows him to absorb contact from attacking opponents with ease. He is always giving maximum effort on this end, too, battling with stars on the perimeter and using his physicality on the inside as a help defender. He also forces 1.6 turnovers per game through steals and drawn offensive fouls, which ranks in the top 10 percent among shooting guards.

As the Mavericks look to compete again without draft picks and with the looming return of Kyrie Irving, they have a glaring hole at the shooting guard position. Pairing Dort with P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall on the wing would give coach Jason Kidd a wealth of defensive options to support the star duo of Irving and Cooper Flagg. 

With Dort in the lineup, the Mavericks’ 2-5 would feature him, Washington, Flagg, and Daniel Gafford. It’s hard to think of a better defensive unit around an offensive star in the league.

While Dort can be a streaky shooter, a trait Mavericks fans know all too well after this season, he shot over 38 percent from downtown in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He knows his role and is just the competitive firebrand every team could use, particularly one that has experienced as much adversity as Dallas has over the past two years.

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