Player Grades: Lu Dort

The Thunder have played 24 games and sit one game from the bottom of the western conference standings with a less than appealing record of 8-16. But despite their lackluster win total, Oklahoma City hasn’t been as bad as you may think. Yes, I understand that might be a weird thing to say coming off a recent 73-point loss, but this season OKC has beaten the Lakers twice and maintained a competitive game against the Sixers, Warriors, Hawks and Jazz. The Thunder are not a team you can play without facing a challenge. We’ll be looking at how every Thunder player has performed thus far, starting with…

Lu Dort: A-

There is a very real argument to be made that Lu Dort has been the Thunder’s best player this season. He’s averaging 16.8 points per game and has been making a strong case for All-Defense this year. However, context is necessary when making such a statement. Dort doesn’t face the same level of defensive attention as Shai does every night. But the offensive development he has made since his rookie season–not even two full years ago–is highly impressive. Dort has gone from someone who couldn’t shoot the ball, couldn’t put it on the floor to save his life and had no touch around the rim to someone who isn’t afraid to attack off the dribble and use his elite strength to finish at the rim against bigger defenders.

Not only has Dort already evolved into a top role player in the league, but this season bodes well for where his future development might take him.