Thunder Trade Lu Dort to Hawks in Three-Team Deal

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded forward Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks on July 19 in a three-team deal that also sent Zaccharie Risacher from Atlanta to the Dallas Mavericks and Ryan Nembhard from Dallas to Atlanta. The NBA approved the transaction the same day.

Oklahoma City received three heavily protected second-round picks, including Chicago’s 2027 selection via Dallas and two most favorable picks in 2031 and 2032 via Atlanta, while creating a $17 million trade exception that dropped the team below the second apron.

The Thunder had exercised Dort’s $17.7 million team option last month before completing the trade. Through separate deals that sent Isaiah Joe to the Pistons and Aaron Wiggins to the Hawks earlier in July, Oklahoma City shed $200 million in salary this offseason while acquiring seven second-round picks in total.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti described the transaction as a financial decision. “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,” Presti told The Oklahoman.

He added that the franchise would miss Dort but remained positioned to reimagine its roster.

Dort averaged 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 69 games during the 2025-26 season. The 27-year-old earned NBA All-Defensive first team honors in 2025 after joining the Thunder as an undrafted player in 2019. The Hawks will pair him with Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the wings and hold more than $40 million in cap space next summer.

Risacher averaged 9.6 points and 3.4 million in 2027-28 if the Mavericks pick up his fourth-year option by October 31, 2026. Nembhard averaged 6.6 points, 5.3 assists and 2.