The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded one of the foundational players from their 2025 NBA championship run in an effort to trim payroll and stay out of the dreaded second apron. The Thunder traded Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that also sends former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. Here’s the full breakdown of the trade:
Thunder acquire: Three future second-round picks
Hawks acquire: Lu Dort, Ryan Nembhard
Mavericks acquire: Zaccharie Risacher
The Thunder have reportedly saved $224 million in luxury tax and payroll this season by trading Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe. OKC is now under the second apron, and they are acquiring a 2027 second rounder from the Chicago Bulls (via Dallas), a 2031 most favorable second rounder from the Hawks, and a 2032 most favorable from the Hawks in the deal, according to Jake Fischer. Atlanta has added another bulldog defender on the perimeter, and the Mavs are taking a flier on a failed No. 1 overall pick.
Let’s grade this trade from every side.
Hawks trade grade for Lu Dort deal
Atlanta found some magic after trading Trae Young to the Washington Wizards in January of last season. The Hawks finished 28-15 after the trade with the league’s No. 8 net-rating at +4.9, then proceeded to take two games off the New York Knicks in the first-round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
In landing Dort, Atlanta adds another bulldog perimeter defender to pair with fDyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Dort is on an expiring $18.2 million deal for the 2026-27 season, which means the Hawks maintain a lot of cap flexibility ahead of the next summer. The Hawks are positioned to have $40+ million in cap space next season according to Charania, and they’re going to be very annoying to play against this year with arguably the league’s toughest defensive trio on the perimeter.
It feels like Atlanta has quietly become one of the best-run teams in the league since promoting Onsi Saleh to lead executive. The Hawks added Kingston Flemings via the brilliant Derik Queen trade, re-signed C.J. McCollum to a smart one-year deal, and added Devin Carter and Aaron Wiggins in trades. Risacher was drafted by the old front office, and he clearly wasn’t part of the Hawks’ long-term plans. Moving off him now seems fine to me given that he was set to make $31.2 million over the next two years. Atlanta is clearly loading up on defense around star forward Jalen Johnson, and they have the assets to make a bigger splash a year from now.
Dort is so physical defensively that he’s a borderline dirty player, and that might be putting it charitably. The East has gotten much stronger this summer, but no one will want to play the Hawks this year.
Grade: A-
Thunder trade grades for Lu Dort deal
Sam Presti always has a long-term vision in mind. He moved off Josh Giddey before he was due for an extension, and added a critical piece to a championship team in Alex Caruso in the process. Now he’s dealing Dort to significantly trim OKC’s tax bill, and potentially open up an extension for Cason Wallace.
The Thunder were always going to be very expensive once the extensions for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren all kicked in. Presti has done well to navigate the second apron as a small market team by moving off role players, replacing them with cost-controlled draft picks, and adding more future assets to potentially make more moves in the future.
The Thunder were the No. 1 team in our way-too-early power rankings. To get back to being a championship team, OKC will need Williams and Holmgren to regain the form they showed on the 2025 title run. In many ways, this team has outgrown Dort. Wallace feels like a more dynamic two-way player, and this also potentially opens up more opportunities for Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, Nikola Topic, and rookie Bennett Stirtz.
Presti isn’t perfect, it just feels that way sometimes. This is pretty good business to move off Dort, add some second-round picks, and maintain flexibility going forward.
Grade: A-
Mavericks trade grades for Zaccharie Risacher deal
Risacher was a pretty shocking No. 1 overall pick from the weak 2024 NBA Draft. I didn’t even have him as a top-10 prospect on my final board, though I shouldn’t exactly be taking a victory lap on that one given that I had plenty of bad calls on my board that year. ESPN was pushing Risacher as the No. 1 overall pick prospect that year. New Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz started his career covering the draft for ESPN, so it isn’t too surprising that Schmitz saw him as a possible reclamation project.
Risacher was always a bet on a 3-and-D wing. So far, he hasn’t been too impressive in either area. Risacher’s defense graded out in the 26th percentile on EPM last season, and he’s a 36 percent three-point shooter on 8.5 attempts per 100 possessions for his career. Risacher offers very little shot-creation or playmaking. He’s not a plus rebounder for his position, either, and his scoring efficiency has been below league-average both years of his career.
Still, he’s only 21 years old, and could benefit from a change of scenery. He could be a good fit next to Cooper Flagg long-term if he actually becomes effective in the 3-and-D areas he’s supposed to be good at, and he’s already a pretty solid transition player who should run the floor well. I’ve never been a big fan of Risacher, but there’s an outline of a good player there, and the Mavs certainly bought very low on him in this deal. Schmitz knows what he’s doing, and if he believes in Risacher’s long-term future, then this is a fine flier to take at minimal cost.
Grade: B
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