Despite having one of the most impressively constructed rosters in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t able to defend their championship last season. And they knew it was their last chance with this particular roster setup, because massive paydays were kicking in for certain players, and the second-apron payroll threshold was looming.
They knew they’d have to make tough decisions this summer, and it looks like they’ve just made the final one of this offseason. The Thunder are sending Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a salary dump. Oklahoma City will receive three second-round draft picks. The Dallas Mavericks are also involved in this trade, sending Ryan Nembhard to the Hawks and receiving 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher.
ESPN first reported the trade. The Thunder have now completed their salary shedding (for now), the Mavs roll the dice on a No. 1 pick, and the Hawks pick up one of the best defenders in the NBA. What does it all mean? Let’s bust out the red ink and slap some grades on this trade.
Thunder acquire 3 second-round picks
The NBA seemed to assume for months that Dort was not going to remain on this roster, so his being moved for second-round picks isn’t exactly a surprise. When you look at what the Thunder have done this summer, they’ve sent out Dort, Isaiah Joe (to Detroit) and Aaron Wiggins (to Atlanta in a different trade) while receiving seven second-round picks in total. The Thunder also drafted Aday Mara (12th) and Bennett Stirtz (16th).
If you believe in second-round picks being highly valuable assets, then you’re fine with this haul. If you think the hit rate on second-round picks is too low to value them as good commodities truly, then you won’t be as high on the moves they made in shedding more than $200 million in payroll and tax penalties. This move should put them roughly $9 million under the second apron and about $4 million into the first apron. If they want to do some extra finagling before the trade deadline to get under that, they can.
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Unfortunately for OKC and other successful NBA teams, this is the cost of doing business and of being good at constructing a roster. You eventually have to duck out of the second apron so the restrictions don’t hammer you, affect your future draft picks or take away methods for altering your roster. The Thunder have navigated it solidly by acquiring second-round picks, but they still lost three good role players in the process. Dort is the biggest of them as one of the best defenders in the NBA. And the Thunder will have to likely extend minutes for Alex Caruso and hope someone steps into a bigger role as they try to get back to championship status.
OKC still has one of the best rosters in the NBA. That hasn’t changed. But it’s not nearly as good as it was a few months ago.
Grade: C-
Hawks acquire Lu Dort, Ryan Nembhard
This is twice now that the Hawks have benefited from the Thunder shedding salary. Acquiring Wiggins for a couple of second-round picks was a nice move. Acquiring Dort for more second-round picks is a brilliant move. It might end up being just a one-year rental on Dort, but we’ll see where the Hawks are with him and his free agency next summer. But even on a one-year rental, the Hawks are rolling the dice without giving up much of anything for one of the best defenders in the league.
Having Dort, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels defensively is going to be suffocating. Atlanta is about to become Clamp City. Even if Dort doesn’t return to his shooting form, trying to get any dribble penetration against the Hawks is going to be an unlikely venture. Dort shot just 34.4 percent from deep last season and was only making 38.5 percent of his shots overall. The Hawks need him to be better than that, but they’ll hope he’s back to the 40.3 percent outside shooter we saw over the previous two seasons.
Dort can also defend bigger guys, so there isn’t so much of an issue when this team goes small. You can put Dort at power forward quite easily defensively, as the Hawks didn’t do a good job of addressing their lack of a big man solution.
Ryan Nembhard, who averaged 5.3 assists for the Mavericks last season, can make for a reliable backup point guard in Atlanta. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Nembhard is also a great depth play at point guard. CJ McCollum is there for at least another year, and the Hawks picked up Kingston Flemings with the eighth pick in the draft. Nembhard was a steal for Dallas as an undrafted rookie last season, averaging 6.6 points, 5.3 assists and 1.4 turnovers in 19.5 minutes per game. He had 41.5/35.6/80.6 shooting splits, so the shot-making from outside is workable.
If Flemings is the point guard of the future for Atlanta, Nembhard will be a good backup point guard of the future. They’re going into next summer with a lot of options for their roster, but before they get to 2027, they’ll be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
Grade: A
Mavs acquire Zaccharie Risacher
Risacher is both a good gamble and a funny acquisition at the same time. Leading up to Anthony Davis being traded from Dallas to the Washington Wizards before the trade deadline, there was a lot of reported interest between the Hawks and the Mavs in finding a deal for Davis. But one of the reported sticking points was that Risacher wouldn’t be included in a deal for Davis.
Now? The Mavericks are acquiring him in a Thunder salary dump. Marc Stein reported that the Risacher acquisition slots him into the roster via a portion of the trade exception created by moving Davis to the Wizards. It’s funny how things work out sometimes.
As for Risacher to Dallas, it’s a pretty good play by the Mavs. They’re buying low on Risacher after a disappointing second season in the NBA. With Risacher, you have to shed the label of “No. 1 pick,” because while it’s accurate, it just doesn’t mean much anymore. Risacher is now just another wing in the NBA trying to find his footing and role.
He can score and rebound a little bit, and he’s been a league-average shooter (36 percent) since entering the NBA. He might have some playmaking ability, but we didn’t get to see him flash much of it for Atlanta. For a Hawks team that was trying to win, he just didn’t fit in as a player who knew how to help accomplish that now. That’s fine, by the way. He’s barely 21 years old, and he doesn’t have much experience.
The Mavs can take a much slower approach, as they don’t totally feel like they’re all in on trying to put a playoff roster on the floor just yet. They’re probably a year away from being a true threat with that. Risacher has time to find even more confidence in his role, whatever that ends up being.
I don’t know if I love jettisoning Nembhard for Risacher, because the Mavs do need point guard and playmaking depth. However, we know new Mavericks president Masai Ujiri loves having tall, lanky, versatile wings all over his roster. Risacher definitely qualifies for that.
Grade: B