Lu Dort Fully Guaranteed Through 2023

The Thunder have guaranteed the final two years of Luguentz Dort‘s four-year contract, locking him up through the 2022/23 season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. The standout second-year wing will earn $1,782,621 in the 2021/22 season and $1,930,681 in the final year of his deal, 2022/23.

After going undrafted in 2019 out of Arizona State, Dort began his NBA career as a two-way player. His staunch defense and athleticism help him earn his way into the rotation for a playoff-bound Thunder club last season, and he was eventually promoted to a permanent role with the team. Oklahoma City inked him to a four-year, $5.4MM deal about a month before the 2019/20 season’s resumption in the Orlando “bubble.”

The 6’3″ wing has started every game of his second NBA season during 2020/21, and is averaging 29.7 MPG for Oklahoma City during a rebuilding year for the franchise. The 21-year-old is averaging 12.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 1.6 APG.

With a 17-23 record, the Thunder are actually a mere two games behind the Grizzlies for a chance to partake in the NBA’s play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed in the West.

Oklahoma City appears satisfied to stay out of the playoffs this season, as the team remains in asset-accrual mode — the Thunder added a 2027 second-round draft pick today in a deal with the Heat. Nicola Lupo of Sportando notes that Oklahoma City has 35 future picks and swap rights across the next seven NBA drafts. The discovery of Dort, who went undrafted, is a shining example of the quality of the Thunder’s scouting department.

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