Dort in the Road: Will Lu Dort's contract extension pay off for the Thunder?

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Much like the player himself, Lu Dort’s recent five-year, $87.5 million extension has been a polarizing topic around these parts, with opinions ranging from the deal being fine to it being something akin to a national travesty (if you’re a stranger to the Daily Thunder community, welcome, and know that some of our posters have a flair for the dramatic).

While I initially saw the Dort deal as a modest, but not harmful, overpay, I’m warming to the idea that it could be a value contract down the road.

There’s some general shock from the idea that Dort is a nearly $90 million player including incentives, but it’s worth reiterating how much contracts have changed over just the past 10 years. Dort’s cap figure next year accounts for just over 9.8 percent of the luxury tax line. That’s roughly the same cap proportion that a contract half the annual value - like Kendrick Perkins’ $7.8 million average salary - accounted for 10 years ago. And sure, it might be unwise to invoke Perk’s deal while arguing for the value of a contract, but it goes to show how starkly things have changed over the past decade.