The OKC Thunder have seen the masterful role of Lu Dort

The Oklahoma City Thunder have already been able to label Lu Dort as a success story. An undrafted point guard from Arizona State who signed with the team following the 2019 NBA draft just as the Bricktown court changed hands under the franchise.

The Thunder traded Dort’s all-time favorite player in Russell Westbrook and pulled off a steal by sending Paul George to the Clippers, signaling a rebuild for one of the league’s most stable franchises since arriving in Oklahoma City.

Things in Dort’s rookie year didn’t go according to plan in more ways than one. Not only was the team given a 0.2% chance to make the NBA playoffs, but they were playing for the No. 1 seed. 4 in the Western Conference when the league shut down for a global pandemic — but the Arizona State rookie was inserted into the rotation for Billy. Donovan totaled 36 games, including 28 starts, and earned top defensive assignments.

Although he was hampered by the previous two-way rule set, Dort was unable to even practice with the varsity club until the NBA Bubble, where he started playoff games for the franchise fresh out of Tempe.

From there, he had a party to upset James Harden, became an NBA meme icon, and became a staple of the Thunder’s starting lineup.

That long and winding road led to Nov. 11, when the Oklahoma City Thunder will host the James Harden Clippers. The once-rebuilding Thunder were seen as contenders, with Dort in year six scoring one of the best two-way storybooks in league history.

In this contest, Dort produced 19 points, two rebounds, one assist, two steals and one offensive foul call award while shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the floor.

One of the best defenders in the league is now becoming an effective offensive weapon for the Thunder – a feat few, frankly, thought possible.

Dort is enjoying a career-best 72% in the cup through his first ten games, placing him in the 74th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass. That’s a massive jump from his career-high 57 percent at the plate last season.

His 3-point shooting, which doomed him as a rookie bursting his bubble at Disney World, is also at a career-high 45 percent, including a staggering 49 percent on non-corner threes.

While you can chalk all of this up to a small sample size, if Dort can maintain this efficiency throughout the season — after making strides a year ago by eliminating bad shots — the Arizona State product not only becomes the ultimate fairy tale with two ways from the NBA. but the best option 3 and D in the association.

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