This summer, the OKC Thunder committed themselves to a potential total of $877.21 million in new, standard deals over the next several years. Upwards of $822 million of this is linked to the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren following the signing of their respective max extensions earlier this month.
At the same time, also eligible for a lucrative new extension with the organization is beloved guard Luguentz Dort, who, following a career-best season where he earned All-Defensive Team honors, could receive north of $80 million over a three-year span if Oklahoma City were willing to draw up the contract.
Though undoubtedly worth every penny of such a pact, sadly, it's safe to assume that he won't be signing the dotted line on such a deal this summer.
Sadly, one could easily argue that he never will -- at least, not with the Thunder.
Lu Dort's tenure with Thunder likely to end once his contract does
As things currently stand, the Thunder already find themselves on track toward exceeding the second apron once Williams and Holmgren's contracts kick in during the 2026-27 campaign.
Fortunately for them, the popular belief is that GM Sam Presti and company will rather seamlessly avoid actually entering into this devastating threshold thanks, in large, to the opt-outs put into the deals of Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams for that very season.
Still, Oklahoma City will only see more challenges to dodge these crippling tax penalties from there on out, what with Gilgeous-Alexander's deal coming into play in 2027-28 and his and J-Dub's continuously ascending salaries during the many years after.
Because of this, the concept of adding a lofty Lu Dort extension into the mix this summer would create more hurdles for the Thunder front office to eventually jump as they look to avoid a similar fate to that of the Celtics.
Frankly, as painful as it may be for fans to hear, the most likely course of action that the Thunder will look to take is to have the 26-year-old ride out the remaining two years, $36.4 million remaining on his current contract and either attempt to get a hometown discount once he hits free agency in the summer of 2027 or, unfortunately, let him walk.
Unless Presti decides to move off of someone like Alex Caruso and his $81.1 million deal or opt not to re-sign Cason Wallace to a rookie extension next summer and, instead, use that money on Dort, it seems that we may very well be approaching the second-to-last year of the fan-favorite's tenure in OKC.