NBA Free Agency: Five contracts teams will regret giving out this offseason

4. Luguentz Dort: 5yrs, $87.5M (OKC Thunder)

The OKC Thunder decided to exercise its team option on Luguentz Dort, making him a restricted free agent. With matching rights, one expected general manager Sam Presti to let the market dictate Dort’s next contract before deciding to match an offer or let him walk.

After going undrafted in 2019 and three years of playing with the Thunder for the league minimum, Dort has been rewarded with a five-year $87.5M contract. While this writer never expected Dort to sign with another team, I did not envision OKC almost immediately signing him to a five-year deal in my wildest dreams.

Playing for the rebuilding Thunder, Dort averaged career-highs in points (17.2), rebounds (4.2), and minutes (32.6) per game while shooting a career-high 84.3 percent from the charity stripe. Despite the uptick in points and free throw percentage, Dort has shown marginal improvement on the offensive side. 

He’s a horrific shooter, and his field goal percentages decrease the further he steps out from the rim. Per basketball reference, he converted 61.5 percent of his shot attempts within three feet of the basket last season. Despite finishing at the rim at such an efficient clip, only 19.7 percent of his shot attempts come from this area of the court. 

While Dort averaged a career-high 2.5 three-pointers per game, he shot a paltry 33.2 percent from beyond the arc and just 31.2 percent on catch-and-shoot threes specifically. Despite his shooting woes, more than half of his field-goal attempts come from long distance. 

He also hasn’t proven to be very durable. Over the last two seasons, Dort has missed a total of 51 games, including the final 26 games of the 2021-22 season, after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder back in March. 

Dort has made a name for himself in league circles for his defensive acumen, but unless he can improve his offensive efficiency –which doesn’t seem likely- this contract will age poorly for OKC. It’s not very probable there will be many suitors for a 6’3″ wing who cannot shoot, making north of $17M per year, should the Thunder elect to trade him down the line.