7:08pm: The Thunder have locked up Dort to a four-year, $5.4MM deal, per Royce Young of ESPN (Twitter link). The first year is the remainder of the current season, prorated at $155,647. The 2020/21 season is fully guaranteed, while the last two years of the deal have partial guarantees, says Young.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) notes that the Thunder will now pay $2.4MM in luxury tax penalties, up from $2MM before the Dort deal.
1:35pm: The Thunder have moved two-way player Luguentz Dort to their 15-man roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed him to a multiyear contract.
Dort, 21, emerged as a crucial part of Oklahoma City’s rotation in January, starting each of the team’s last 21 games before the season was suspended — the Thunder went 16-5 in those contests.
For the season, the former Arizona State swingman has averaged 6.2 PPG and 1.9 RPG on .414/.301/.778 shooting in 29 games (22.0 MPG). Those shooting numbers increased to .430/.357/.870 following his promotion to the starting lineup.
While the NBA has loosened its restrictions on two-way players participating in the postseason for this summer, completing a standard contract this week seemed like the logical outcome for Dort and the Thunder. The team had an open spot on its 15-man roster and will now no longer have to compete with rival suitors to re-sign the young wing in restricted free agency this fall.
Moving Dort to the 15-man squad will also allow the Thunder to sign a two-way player to replace him, as of Saturday. That player would become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, but could provide insurance for OKC in Orlando this summer in the event of an injury, a positive COVID-19 test, or another development that compromises the team’s depth.
Details of Dort’s new contract aren’t yet known, but the Thunder still have a good portion of their taxpayer mid-level exception left. They’d be able to offer well above the minimum and could lock up Dort for up to two additional seasons beyond 2019/20.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Stud.
Awesome move for the thunder. Wonder if it spells the end of turd Ferguson or roberson
Roberson just tripped over the vacuum cleaner extension cord… two more years out
Will Thunder let Gallo walk for nothing？
Sign and trade？
They will probably be glad to be under the salary cap for the first time in a long while. With the picks they got for Paul George, and Westbrook to a lesser extent, they will be looking to the re-building the team over the next few years. OKC will still have a hard time moving either CP3 or Adams, but they should be able to get something for Schröder.