This is nice for both Lu Dort and the Oklahoma City Thunder. He gets a four year deal worth $5.4 million and Sam Presti gets a very affordable defensive role player who will provide some toughness to go along with SGA and Darius Bazely moving down the road.
I don’t think of Dort as a Pat Beverly type, but more I envision at some point hopefully Dort can evolve into what Marcus Smart has beome in Boston. Same body. Same on court attitude. Offense needs some polish.
Presti loved Marcus Smart when he was at O State, and lo and behold he now has undrafted Lu Dort from Arizona State as his version of a very affordable version of Smart.
Another Canadian. We now have Chuba Hubbard from the Mullet King saga, Lu Dort, and the future face of the Thunder fanchise Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in central Oklahoma.
This is nice for me because I like Dort and enjoy watching his hustle all over the floor. He’s gotta work really hard on improving his shot, but I think it’ s good deal for the Thunder given they paid very little. Classic Sam Presti move.
Marcus is easily my favorite O State player to not come from the Eddie Sutton era in Stillwater. Marcus overcame quite a bit as a one parent kid from Texas to get to where he is today in Boston. It’s an inspiring story of sticking with it.
If you put Marcus Smart alongside SGA you’d have something very special. So..I think this is what Sam Presti is hoping can happen someday in Oklahoma City if Dort’s offensive game has some growth to it with hard work and diligence paying off down the road.
I love Marcus Smart.