The reigning champion Thunder are trading Luguentz Dort to the Hawks for three second-round picks, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday. The deal is a three-team framework: Atlanta sends 2024 No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas, and the Mavericks route guard Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Oklahoma City comes away with Chicago’s 2027 second-round pick (via Dallas) plus the two most favorable second-rounders in 2031 and 2032 (via Atlanta). The Thunder also create a $17.72MM trade exception equal to Dort’s outgoing salary. Charania noted the move slides Oklahoma City comfortably beneath the second tax apron.
That apron math is the whole story here. Oklahoma City exercised its $17.72MM team option on Dort just last month, then chose to flip him for draft capital rather than carry the salary. It is the third cost-cutting subtraction from the title roster in a matter of weeks: Isaiah Joe went to the Pistons for two second-round picks and Aaron Wiggins to the Hawks for two more earlier in July. General manager Sam Presti is converting a champion’s expensive depth into future flexibility while the core stays intact.
Dort, 27, had been a fixture in the Thunder’s starting five for all seven of his NBA seasons, earning a spot on the All-Defensive First Team and helping Oklahoma City win the 2025 championship. Charania reported Dort could have a long-term future in Atlanta and will be extension-eligible throughout the 2026-27 league year.
For the Hawks, who Charania said had been hunting wing help, Dort joins Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to give Atlanta three premier perimeter defenders. The cost is Risacher, the top pick of the 2024 draft, whom Dallas adds to a young core that already includes its own recent lottery selections. Nembhard, coming off his rookie season, heads to Atlanta as the third piece.
