Luguentz Dort agrees to five-year extension with Thunder

Adrian Wojnarowski: Free agent G Luguentz Dort has agreed to a five-year, $87.5M deal to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his agent Thad Foucher of Wasserman tells ESPN. Source: Twitter @wojespn What’s the buzz on Twitter? The Vertical @ …

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

The Vertical @YahooSportsNBA
Lu Dort is staying with Thunder after agreeing to a five-year, $87.5M deal, per @Adrian Wojnarowski đź’°đź’° pic.twitter.com/3LmSPSwI8A6:27 PM

StatMuse @statmuse
Lu Dort has improved offensively every season.
2020: 6.8 PPG on 50.6 TS%
2021: 14.0 PPG on 51.3 TS%
2022: 17.2 PPG on 54.1 TS%
Still elite defense. pic.twitter.com/F79pijkUaq6:27 PM

Rylan Stiles @Rylan_Stiles
The beauty of the Lu Dort contract is 17.5-million per year with his skillset is such an easy trade chip if OKC needed to include him as a center piece/sweetner of a trade. Also, being on this team for the majority of the 5 years with OKC contending for most of it hopefully. – 6:26 PM
StatMuse @statmuse
Lu Dort in 2022:
17.2 PPG
4.2 RPG
1.7 APG
Five more years with the Thunder squad. pic.twitter.com/TxK47cn4XG6:24 PM

Jon Hamm @JonMHamm
Remember: this was Lu Dort in 2019. Rags to riches, relatively speaking. What a story. pic.twitter.com/VjPd7Oe8OY6:22 PM

Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
Free agent G Lu Dort has agreed to a five-year, $87.5M deal to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his agent Thad Foucher of Wasserman tells ESPN. – 6:19 PM
Rylan Stiles @Rylan_Stiles
As expected, going to play the long game with Lu Dort which is typical with RFAs. Other teams will not want to tie their money up in a gut within the first five minutes of FA, when OKC can just match it in a few days after all the FAs are gone. – 6:09 PM
Rylan Stiles @Rylan_Stiles
Locked on #Thunder Podcast:
🏀 Lu Dort is an RFA
🏀 Mike Muscala is a UFA
🏀 Isaiah Roby’s option was picked up
🏀 Spurs join the tank party
🏀 Free Agency Preview
#ThunderUp #FirstListen:
https://t.co/mMkaoVLwqq pic.twitter.com/mhczJDuVII11:38 AM

Joe Mussatto @joe_mussatto
On the Thunder declining Lu Dort’s team option and what’s likely to happen next: oklahoman.com/story/sports/n…10:54 AM
Joe Mussatto @joe_mussatto
Story on the Thunder reversing course on Lu Dort’s team option, and what might have changed in the last four days: oklahoman.com/story/sports/n…7:35 PM
Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Thunder (Luguentz Dort), Rockets (Jae’Sean Tate) surprisingly decline team options nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/29/thu…6:42 PM

More on this storyline

 

Shams Charania: The Oklahoma City Thunder are declining the $1.9 million team option on froward Luguentz Dort for 2022-23 season, which makes him a restricted free agent and allows sides to negotiate a new deal in free agency, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. -via Twitter @ShamsCharania / June 29, 2022
Joe Mussatto: Sam Presti on Lu Dort’s team option: “Obviously it’s our plan to exercise that pending anything different.” Significant news. The Thunder could have declined the option to make Dort a restricted free agent. -via Twitter @joe_mussatto / June 25, 2022
Dort has been arguably one of the biggest values in the league at his four-year minimum contract. He is currently extension-eligible with the Thunder and will continue to be provided they pick up his team option. The main reason to consider declining him is to allow him to enter restricted free agency and re-sign him on a deal worth more money than the maximum four years, $56 million he is eligible for. However, doing so could put them over the luxury tax next season if they also use their remaining $23.4 million in cap space that expires by June 30. If Dort intends on testing the market, Oklahoma City might as well let him do so in the 2023 offseason when they’re currently projected to generate close to $50 million in cap space. Dort will have a very small cap hold, allowing them to utilize close to that full cap space amount and be able to re-sign him afterward with his Bird rights. The only risk they’re taking is that he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023, but that won’t matter if he bypasses an extension. -via HoopsHype / June 20, 2022