Lu Dort isn’t practicing with the Thunder.
That might seem incredibly strange for a player that has recently made his way into the starting rotation, but it’s a necessity for Dort not to practice…for a very specific reason.
Dort is signed to a two-way contract this season, meaning that in splitting time between the Thunder’s NBA G League affiliate, the OKC Blue, and the Thunder, Dort can spend a total of 45 days with Oklahoma City. That includes games and practice.
So there’s no time to waste.
Billy Donovan told Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman that they’ve been keeping Dort up to speed through constant film sessions.
“You’ve got to watch a lot of film with him,” Donovan said. “You’ve got to catch him up. He’s got to certainly watch and spectate. All those things become important, following the rules in terms of how we can best keep him engaged to what’s going on and what we’re doing.”
Dort stepped into the starting rotation when Terrance Ferguson missed eight straight games during the month of January.
Although he did score a career-high 23 points in Oklahoma City’s win over the Sacramento Kings on Jan. 29, Donovan told Lee that Dort has also filled the much-needed role of defensive stopper.
“He’s really defended well,” Donovan said of the rookie. “I think what I look at more than anything else is the fact that every matchup that he’s going against is for the first time in his career, and he’ll learn a lot though that.”
Dort has played in 17 games so far for Oklahoma City, with nine starts. He’s averaging 7.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and .8 steals per game.
He has started both games since Ferguson returned to practice on Feb. 3, and is likely to start on Sunday when the Thunder host the Boston Celtics.