The Thunder traded All-Defensive wing Luguentz Dort to the Hawks in a three-team deal that sent three second-round picks to Oklahoma City, 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Mavericks and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta on Sunday.
Oklahoma City has now acquired seven second-round picks while going under the second apron and shedding $200 million this offseason via the trades of Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins.
Rather than simply declining Dort's $17.7 million team option to save money, the Thunder picked it up, acquired three future assets, created a $17 million trade exception and placed their 2025 championship stalwart in position for a long-term deal in Atlanta that was not viable for Oklahoma City.
"This was a financial decision. The impression I have been given is that the savings generated this summer, and from being out of the tax the last several years, will be re-allocated to future teams," Thunder general manager Sam Presti told The Oklahoman.
The Hawks will team up a 27-year-old elite defender in Dort with Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the wings and will have over $40 million in cap space next summer.
Dort served as the longest-tenured member of the Thunder, earning multiple extensions with the franchise after joining as a two-way contract player when he went undrafted in 2019. Presti said he loves what Dort is about and that the franchise will miss him.
"Losing Lu will certainly have an affect on the team, but I think we are positioned well to reimagine ourselves and continue to find new avenues to win," Presti told the Oklahoman. "Cason [Wallace] and Ajay [Mitchell] will have more responsibility, as will others."
Mavericks president Masai Ujiri and general manager Mike Schmitz targeted Risacher this summer and add him to a retooling roster around young players under new coach Dusty May.
Nembhard earned a standard contract after strong performances on a two-way deal as a rookie last season in Dallas. He and Dort are both from Canada.
Dort averaged 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 69 games last season. In seven seasons, all with the Thunder, he has averaged 11.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He was named a member of the NBA's All-Defensive first team in 2025.
Risacher, 21, averaged 9.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 67 games last season, his second in the NBA. He finished as runner-up to Stephon Castle in Rookie of the Year voting after the 2024-25 season.
Nembhard, 23, averaged 6.6 points, 5.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 60 games last season.