The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded away one of the cornerstone players of their 2025 NBA championship in an effort to trim payroll and stay out of the dreaded second deck. The Thunder traded Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that also sends former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. Here is the full breakdown of the trade:
Thunder acquire: Three future second-round picks
The falcons acquire: Lu Dort, Ryan Nembhard
Mavericks acquire: Zaccharie Risacher
The Thunder have reportedly saved $224 million in luxury and payroll taxes this season by trading Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe. OKC is now under the second apron and are acquiring a 2027 second-round pick from the Chicago Bulls (via Dallas), a more favorable 2031 second-rounder from the Hawks and a more favorable 2032 pick from the Hawks in the deal, according to Jake Fischer. Atlanta has added another bulldog defender on the perimeter, and the Mavs are turning a corner with a failed No. 1 overall pick.
Let’s rate this trade from all sides.
Hawks trade quality for Lu Dort deal
Atlanta found some magic after trading Trae Young to the Washington Wizards in January of last season. The Hawks finished 28-15 after the trade with the league’s No. 8 net rating at +4.9, then proceeded to take two games away from the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
By signing Dort, Atlanta adds another bulldog perimeter defender to pair with fDyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Dort has an expiring contract worth $18.2 million for the 2026-27 season, meaning the Hawks retain plenty of cap flexibility heading into next summer. The Hawks are positioned to have over $40 million in cap space next season according to Charania, and they will be very annoying to play against this year with arguably the league’s toughest defensive trio on the perimeter.
It appears Atlanta has quietly become one of the best-managed teams in the league since promoting Onsi Saleh to chief executive. The Hawks added Kingston Flemings via the brilliant Derik Queen trade, re-signed CJ McCollum to a smart one-year deal, and added Devin Carter and Aaron Wiggins in trades. Risacher was drafted by the old front office and was clearly not part of the Hawks’ long-term plans. Leaving him now seems fine to me given that he was scheduled to make $31.2 million over the next two years. Atlanta is clearly loading up on defense around star forward Jalen Johnson, and they have the assets to make a bigger splash a year from now.
Dort is so physically defensive that he is an almost dirty player, and that could be said charitably. The East has gotten much stronger this summer, but no one wants to play the Hawks this year.
Thunder exchange ratings for Lu Dort deal
Sam Presti always has a long-term vision in mind. He parted ways with Josh Giddey before he was due an extension and, in the process, added a critical piece to a championship team: Alex Caruso. He is now negotiating with Dort to significantly cut OKC’s tax bill and potentially open an extension for Cason Wallace.
The Thunder were always going to be very expensive once extensions for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren went into effect. Presti has done well to navigate the second apron as a small-market team by shedding role players, replacing them with cost-controlled draft picks and adding more future assets to potentially make more moves down the road.
The Thunder were the number one team in our too-early power rankings. To be a championship team again, OKC will need Williams and Holmgren to regain the form they showed in the 2025 title race. In many ways, this team has surpassed Dort. Wallace feels like a more dynamic two-way player, and this also potentially opens up more opportunities for Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, Nikola Topic and rookie Bennett Stirtz.
Presti isn’t perfect, he just seems that way sometimes. This is a good deal to move away from Dort, add some second-round picks and maintain flexibility going forward.
Mavericks trade grades over Zaccharie Risacher deal
Risacher was a pretty shocking No. 1 overall pick from the weak 2024 NBA Draft. I didn’t even have him as a top-10 prospect on my final board, although I shouldn’t exactly take a victory lap on that one given I had a lot of bad decisions on my board that year. ESPN was touting Risacher as the No. 1 overall pick prospect that year. New Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz began his career covering the draft for ESPN, so it’s no surprise that Schmitz viewed him as a potential bounce-back project.
Risacher always went for a 3-and-D wing. So far, he hasn’t been overly impressive in either area. Risacher’s defense ranked in the 26th percentile in EPM last season, and he is a career 36 percent three-point shooter on 8.5 attempts per 100 possessions. Risacher offers very little shot or play creation. He’s also not a great rebounder for his position, and his scoring efficiency has been below league average in both years of his career.
Still, he’s only 21 years old and could use a change of scenery. He could fit well alongside Cooper Flagg long-term if he really becomes effective in the 3-and-D areas he’s supposed to be good at, and he’s already a pretty solid transition player who should run the floor well. I’ve never been a big fan of Risacher, but there’s a profile of a good player there, and the Mavs certainly bought very little with him in this deal. Schmitz knows what he’s doing, and if he believes in Risacher’s long-term future, then this is a good plane to take at minimal cost.
