Sam Presti says the team will pick up Lu Dort’s team-option this week

The Oklahoma City Thunder are entering another important offseason amid their rebuild. After selecting four players in the 2022 NBA Draft, three of which were in the Lottery, the team has to find four roster spots and continue their roster turnover. Sam Presti made a lot of news throughout the weekend at the team’s rookie introductory press conference. From saying he will pick up Lu Dort’s team option, to confirming JaMychal Green will not play a game with the Thunder.

On Saturday, those of us in the media were invited to the team’s introductory press conference for their 2022 NBA Draft class. While talking to 34th overall pick Jaylin Williams, the 12th overall pick in Jalen Williams, a shocking trade for the 11th overall pick Ousmane Dieng, and the team’s new franchise cornerstone Chet Holmgren, we were also able to talk with Thunder General Manager Sam Presti and head coach Mark Daigneault.

Sam Presti confirms the Oklahoma City Thunder will pick up the 1.9 team option on defensive star Lu Dort, what does it mean for his future in OKC?

The OKC Thunder have a ton of work to do this offseason, while they will not head into the 2022-23 season with aspirations of winning the NBA Finals, or even making the postseason, the team’s roster has a lot of wrinkles that need to be ironed out.

With 22 players on their roster, that number has to come down dramatically before the season starts and with Free Agency opening up on Thursday and the new league year turning over, this will kick start some of the team’s roster moves.

Sam Presti was asked about Lu Dort’s 1.9-million dollar team option on Saturday, which the team will have to decide on by Wednesday. While on the surface, it is a no-brainer to pick up the option, because of course you want Dort on the roster and how could you beat a bargain 1.9-million dollar deal? It is not that simple.

Up until recently, many expected the Oklahoma City Thunder to decline the team option, which would make Lu Dort a restricted free agent. That is the easiest path for OKC to re-sign Dort to a long-term deal given that they have his bird rights and as a restricted free agent even if a cap space team offered him a massive deal, the Thunder have the right to match the offer sheet.

The OKC Thunder are not going that route, as of now, the plan is to exercise his team option putting him under contract for 1.9-million dollars this season and lining him up to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. This is a surprising move due to the lack of certainty on your ability to re-sign Dort next season if he hits the open market. Granted, OKC will have the most cap space of any team (despite being over the cap this offseason) and have the ability to offer him the most money, but there is no guarantee you bring him back and you risk losing him for nothing.

Typically, Sam Presti does not let players hit unrestricted free agency. The Thunder can work out an extension with the maximum amount being four years and 58 million dollars (14.5 per year). However, if that is not agreed to relatively soon, the antennas should start to go up.

If we get to the trade deadline and Lu Dort is still on an expiring deal, it would be nerve-wracking to risk losing such a great asset for nothing. The issue in a Dort trade comes with his contract. Only being owed 1.9 million the salary matching game gets a bit hard and packing Dort with JaMychal Green (8.2 million) or Derrick Favors (10.1 million) lessens the value of any package.

NBA Free Agency opens up on Thursday at 6 p.m. and we will see if Lu Dort and the Thunder can begin hammering out an extension.