By admin 
The Oklahoma City Thunder have already been able to call Lu Dort a success story. An undrafted guard out of Arizona State who signed a two-way deal with the team after the 2019 NBA Draft, right as the ground shifted under the franchise in Bricktown.
The Thunder traded Dort’s all-time favorite player in Russell Westbrook and pulled off a heist by sending Paul George to the Clippers, signaling a rebuild of one of the league’s most stable franchises since arriving in Oklahoma City.
In Dort’s rookie year, things didn’t go according to plan in more ways than one. In addition to being given a 0.2 percent chance of making the NBA Playoffs, the team was also playing for the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference when the league shut down due to a global pandemic — but the Arizona State rookie was inserted into the rotation for Billy Donovan played a total of 36 games, including 28 starts, and earned top defensive assignments.
Although hampered by the previous set of two-way rules, Dort wasn’t even able to practice with the varsity club until the NBA Bubble, where he started playoff games for the franchise fresh out of Tempe.
From there, he had a coming-out party in which he confounded James Harden, became an NBA meme icon and has become a staple of the Thunder’s starting lineup.
That long and winding road has led to the Oklahoma City Thunder hosting James Harden’s Clippers on Nov. 11. The once-rebuilding Thunder were seen as contenders and Dort in year six was one of the best two-way storybooks in league history.
In this game, Dort produced 19 points, two rebounds, an assist, two steals and a plethora of drawn offensive foul calls while shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the floor.
One of the best defensemen in the league now becomes an efficient offensive weapon for the Thunder – a feat few honestly thought was possible.
Dort is enjoying a career-best 72 percent in the Cup through the first ten games, which puts him in the 74th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass. This is a huge jump from his previous career high, last season, of a modest 57 percent from the tin.
His 3-point shot, which doomed him as a rookie and burst his bubble at Disney World, also stands at a career-high 45 percent, including an astonishing 49 percent on non-corner triples.
While you can sprinkle all this on a small sample size, if Dort can maintain this efficiency throughout the season (after making strides a year ago by giving up admittedly bad shots), the Arizona State product won’t just be the best two-way NBA fairy tale. but the best 3-and-D option in the association.
Song of the day: Treat Me Nice by Elvis Presley
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