The Thunder has a deep catalog of developmental success stories.
Serge Ibaka was one of the first. A raw prospect with tantalizing tools, Ibaka grew into a two-way force. And there are all sorts of recent examples. Waived by the 76ers, Isaiah Joe became one of the best 3-point shooters in the league with the Thunder. Aaron Wiggins and Jaylin Williams are second-rounders who contributed to a title team. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t arrive in Oklahoma City as a superstar. He gradually became one.
But for Sam Presti and the Thunder, Lu Dort might be their biggest developmental win.
We have an All-Dort edition of Mussatto’s Minutes this week in the wake of the Thunder longtimer being traded from OKC to Atlanta. We reflect on the best moments of Dort’s seven-year Thunder tenure and take a look at where his numbers stack up in Thunder history, but we start at the beginning.
Dort was a marquee prospect coming out of Montreal. He was a four-star, ranked 33rd overall in the 2018 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports composite. Another Canadian, RJ Barrett, was the No. 1 player in the class.
Dort signed with Arizona State and was the Sun Devils’ leading scorer as a freshman. He averaged 16.1 points per game (on not so great shooting) and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
His decision to go one-and-done at Arizona State seemed misguided after Dort went undrafted in 2019, but he found the right home in Oklahoma City as a free agent signed to a two-way contract. Eventually he became an $18 million man.
Dort’s defensive tenacity helped define this era of the Thunder. Dort evolved from a reckless offensive player to one who selflessly reigned in his game. He became a competent, and often clutch, 3-point shooter.
Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander were the only holdovers from the 2020 playoff team to the Thunder’s next playoff team in 2024, to the championship team in 2025.
Dort, by any measure, is one of the 10 best players in Thunder history. A player whose developmental arc is unmatched.
Top five moments of Lu Dort’s Thunder career
5. Preseason game in Montreal: Dort grew up in Montreal-Nord, a neighborhood rich with Haitian immigrants like Dort. In 2023, the Thunder played a preseason game in Montreal as a nod to Dort. He was the star inside a packed Bell Centre, where his beloved Montreal Canadiens play. Dort, speaking French, addressed the crowd before the game. “I almost shed a tear, if I’m being honest,” Dort said of the moment. “I had to hold myself together.”
4. Game-winner vs. Spurs: After rattling in a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer against the Spurs, Dort lay on his back, his limbs splayed. The second-year Thunder guard soon found himself on the bottom of a dog pile. Dort’s game winner happened inside of an empty Paycom Center (due to COVID) in Year 1 of the Thunder’s rebuild, but the way Dort’s teammates celebrated him made made the moment feel monumental.
3. First-team All-Defense selection: Dort has long been regarded as one of the best defensive players in basketball, but it wasn’t until the 2024-25 season that he earned All-Defensive honors. Dort finished fourth for Defensive Player of the Year that season. He received 11 first-place votes. The “Dorture Chamber” is on the shortlist of best nicknames in Thunder history.
2. Game 7 against Rockets: This is the origin of the legend of Lu. Dort, an undrafted rookie, scored 30 points in the Thunder’s Game 7 loss to the Rockets in the first round of the 2020 bubble playoffs. The Rockets had dared Dort to shoot all series, and rightfully so. Dort was 7-of-38 from three (18%) in the series. He was out there because of his defense, which miffed Houston star James Harden — a fellow Sun Devil. But then came Dort’s 6 of 12 3-point shooting spree in Game 7. It was absurd. Dort’s final 3-point attempt of the game was blocked by Harden, and the Rockets advanced. Even in the loss, Big Game Lu was born.
1. Game 5 against Nuggets: The Nuggets led the Thunder by nine points with nine minutes to play in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. OKC, on its home court, was in danger of heading back to Denver facing a 3-2 series deficit. Dort swung the game with a flurry of 3-pointers — three of them in a two-minute span. “It’s clear as day we wouldn’t have been able to win tonight if Lu doesn’t make those shots,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. The Thunder went on to beat the Nuggets in seven games en route to an NBA title. That banner might not be hanging inside Paycom Center if not for Dort’s trio of clutch threes against Denver.
Lu Dort Thunder tenure by the numbers
432: Dort ranks seventh in Thunder history in games played. He’s behind Russell Westbrook (821), Nick Collison (602), Kevin Durant (561), Steven Adams (530), Serge Ibaka (524) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (448).
862: Dort ranks third in Thunder history in 3-pointers behind Durant (1,084) and Westbrook (922).
44.7%: Dort’s 3-point percentage in the NBA Finals against the Pacers. He went 17-of-38, making more threes in that series than any he’s played in.
5,018: Dort, who crossed the 5,000-point threshold, is the sixth-leading scorer in Thunder history.
410: Dort is sixth on the Thunder’s all-time steals list.
1,648: Seventh on the Thunder’s all-time rebounds list.
670: And seventh on the Thunder’s all-time assists list.
42: Dort’s career-high in points (April 13, 2021 against the Jazz).
$68.7 million: Dort’s career earnings in OKC. Not bad for an undrafted guy who started his career on a two-way contract.
2,570: Days Dort spent as a Thunder.
5: A jersey number that’s belonged to Dort since his rookie season. The last player to wear No. 5 for the Thunder before Dort? Markieff Morris.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lu Dort leaves Thunder as best developmental success ever for OKC | Mussatto’s Minutes
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