With Lu Dort signing a Scottie Pippen contract 4-year, $5.4 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, it’s time to do that thing where we discuss what it means for the team, and the player, financially. Super nosy stuff, but that’s what blogging is all about.
So, let’s take a peek in Lu’s wallet. He won’t mind.
BREAKING IT DOWN
The season-by-season breakdown of Dort’s contract is listed below. One question we got on Twitter was “when is the first year of the deal?” The answer to that is this season.
- 2019-20: $155,647 — Prorated
- 2020-21: 1.517M — Fully-Guaranteed
- 2021-22: 1.782M — $300K Guaranteed
- 2022-23: 1.93M — $325K Guranteed
What A Steal!
First and foremost, the Thunder signed Dort to a 4-year deal worth $4 million less than what they agreed to pay for 4-years of Kyle Singler back in 2015. In terms of a value play, Sam Presti coupon’d the living daylights out of this one.
Here’s why:
- Dort is the starting shooting guard and likely will be for the foreseeable future. While it’s no guarantee he holds onto the spot, there’s an outside chance the Thunder just locked up a starter through the 2023 season on the cheap.
- I mean, he’s good.
- The Thunder are 16-5 in Dort’s 21 starts this season. MLB pitchers get Looney Toon money if they do that.
- In the event Andre Roberson’s leg never grows back, OKC will have found a serviceable defensive replacement in an undrafted rookie.
- His name is just a tremendous amount of fun to say. Lu Dort.
WHAT A DEAL!
Though the deal is extremely team-friendly, Dort has done well for himself in the “Security” and “Guaranteed Money” categories. Here’s why that is:
- Again, Lu Dort was not drafted by any NBA team.
- He’s not even supposed to be here. (G-League)
- Dort went from undrafted (no income), to a 2-way player ($80K/season), to secured in a multi-year deal with more than $2 million dollars in guaranteed money coming his way.
- He’s only 21-years-old, and will hit unrestricted free agency at 24. He’s patiently playing the long game.
- Lu Dort has more money than you.
THAT DAMN LUXURY TAX
There’s no reason to complain about any part of this deal, but I’d be remiss not to mention it’s impact on the Thunder’s luxury tax bill.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, OKC’s tax bill went from $2M to $2.4M with the signing. I don’t worry about other people’s bills, so it’s all fine with me. Great move for the Thunder.