Lu Dort is the darling of Oklahoma City.
The rookie has stepped into the starting rotation in place of Terrance Ferguson after Ferguson left at the half of OKC’s loss to Miami on Jan. 17 and has yet to return.
Dort has shined as a defensive stopper, drawing some of the most difficult assignments in the league, including Houston’s James Harden and the Mavs’ Luka Doncic.
Dort has shown that he’s worth having on the court.
Now, he just needs to know whether or not the Thunder feel he’s worth a full-time contract.
Dort is one of 60 players that are currently signed to a two-way contract. And, as noted by Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, two-way contracts come with a catch: players signed to a two-way contract can only spend up to 45 days in the NBA.
Dort told Mussatto that he hasn’t been keeping track of the amount of time he’s spent with the Thunder this season.
“I don’t monitor it at all,” Donovan said last week. “Really it’s the front office. Obviously I’m in contact with them and they give me updates of what’s going on.”
Per Musatto, Dort is playing the most meaningful minutes of those players signed to a two-way contract, even if he isn’t playing the most minutes overall. He’s the only two-way player in the league this year that has cracked a starting rotation.
In his six starts, Oklahoma City is 5-1. And they do have a spot on their 15-man roster.
Dort is averaging 21.2 minutes per game, scoring 6.3 points per contest.
Against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Dort scored a career-high 23 points, 12 of those coming in the third quarter alone.
There have been a lot of questions about what Sam Presti is going to do as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches. Maybe the move is just to officially move Dort to a full-time contract.