The calendar nears August, which means the NBA is in its driest part of the year. Rosters are mostly set as front offices head into vacations for the next couple of months before training camps start.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2025-26 season with the hopes of being repeat NBA champions. They had one of the greatest seasons ever with a 68-14 regular-season record and captured the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren were all signed to new contract extensions this offseason. But what about another Thunder starter who is sneakily extension-eligible? With plenty of time to kill, Thunder Wire will conduct regular mailbags to answer questions that fans have.
One question being asked is if the Thunder should go four-for-four with big extensions this summer and sign Lu Dort to a new deal. There’s no straightforward answer as OKC’s payroll situation gets dicey after next season.
Dort has two years, $36.4 million left on his current deal. The second year is a 2026-27 team option for $18.2 million. Considering the 26-year-old had his best season yet as he finally earned All-Defensive Team honors and stepped up in the playoffs, he’s being criminally underpaid.
That should change soon. If the Thunder feel confident enough about their payroll situation and comfortable with an expensive roster, they could go ahead and sign him this summer. But considering their recent history of decline-and-sign deals, they could wait until the next offseason to ink him to a long-term contract.
