OKC Thunder: Lu Dort’s offensive explosion is the biggest surprise so far

The OKC Thunder are just 1-1 through two games, but they’re full of surprises already. Lu Dort turning into an offensive force has been the biggest yet.

The OKC Thunder entered the 2020 offseason with a plan to fully rebuild, tearing the house down to the studs with few exceptions. One of those exceptions was franchise cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and another was defensive standout Luguentz Dort.

The 21-year-old Canadian came to league-wide prominence in the NBA bubble this summer, mostly for making James Harden’s life absolutely miserable in the first round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets. Normally Harden is able to get what he wants at will on the offensive end, but he had to work for everything against Dort.

Built like a fullback, the 6’3″ 215 lbs youngster is the closest thing you’ll find to a brick wall among NBA guards. But now, he’s added a brand new element to his game along with that sturdy defense: The kid can score.

The Rockets dared Dort to shoot in the playoffs last season, and he obliged them by blasting away from 3-point range 50 times in the six games he played. He only hit on 26.0 percent of them, but there’s something to be said about the fact that he just kept gunning away. A shooter with no conscience always has the potential to put it together and turn into something special, and through two games it looks like that’s what has happened to Lu Dort.

Please, regard the following:

• Dort is second on the OKC Thunder in scoring at 20.5 points per game
• He has the highest shooting percentage at 60.9 percent
• He has the highest 3-point percentage (on 11 total attempts) at 54.5 percent
• He has taken the second-most field goals at 11.5 per game and 3s at 5.5 per game

Dort is probably not going to end up being an All-NBA scorer, but he’s already turned into a player that defenses can’t chalk up as an easy miss from distance. That’s a problem for opponents considering the versatile scoring that Gilgeous-Alexander provides gives them no quarter on that end of the floor.

It’s also a problem for the Thunder’s tanking goals. They’re 50/50 so far in two close finishes, and this team might simply be a little too good for what they’re trying to accomplish this season. Of course, it’s far too early to pencil them into the play-in or anything crazy like that, but the OKC Thunder are going to be a problem, at least against some of the worst teams in the NBA.

We also need to remember how noisy 3-point shooting is as a general rule. Dort probably wasn’t as bad as a 26.0 percent shooter in the playoffs, and he’s obviously nowhere close to a 54.5 percent shooter now. It takes hundreds of attempts to truly get a shooter’s success rate, and often by the time you get the needed number he can have improved or declined.

However, if he can settle somewhere into that mid-to-high 30s range, he’s going to be making life difficult for Thunder opponents on both ends and that’s a big win all by itself. So we’re not buying just yet on Lu Dort’s surprising offensive outburst, but we’re going to be tracking his progression closely as this season goes on.