{"id":131603,"date":"2025-06-28T13:22:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T13:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/131603\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T13:22:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T13:22:16","slug":"the-player-oklahoma-city-thunder-must-avoid-in-2025-nba-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/131603\/","title":{"rendered":"The player Oklahoma City Thunder must avoid in 2025 NBA free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post The player Oklahoma City Thunder must avoid in 2025 NBA free agency<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> won their first championship in franchise history and shattered records on their way to the 2025 NBA title, defeating the Indiana Pacers in a hard-fought Game 7<\/a>. However, Sam Presti and company are already in action this offseason, to improve the current roster to create a dynasty. The OKC front office is facing multiple contract extensions in the current roster, but is still in a comfortable position to spend wisely in free agency.<\/p>\n

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For now, Oklahoma City has 15 players under contract entering the offseason and once again is projected below the luxury tax. However, exploring free agency targets might not be easy with the tax implications. According to Spotrac, the Thunder have until June 29 to exercise team options for Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell, combining to a total of $178,712,799, which is roughly $9 million below the luxury tax and $17 million below the first apron.<\/p>\n

Building a Thunder dynasty: Smart moves over big names<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to build \u2014 and then sustain \u2014 a truly great basketball team, it requires a method. This method is not guesswork or a convenient message that miscasts others\u2019 good fortune as a repeatable skill.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was from the letter Sam Presti, the Thunder\u2019s head of basketball operations, penned in the Oklahoman after trading\u00a0Paul George<\/a> to the LA Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and five first-round picks. Since starting its rebuild nearly five years ago, Oklahoma City has never operated with blinders on, instead focusing on growth within and long-term sustainability. The Thunder front office is looking at smart free agency targets that will enhance their current core even further without piling up on the wage bill.<\/p>\n

Thunder shouldn\u2019t overpay Luguentz Dort<\/p>\n

The Thunder just completed a historic 2024\u201325 campaign, winning their first NBA championship behind a transcendent run from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, elite support from Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, and a masterclass in roster building from GM Presti. But now, as the confetti settles and the offseason begins, OKC faces a pivotal decision: what to do with Luguentz Dort.<\/p>\n

Dort has been a critical part of the Thunder\u2019s rebuild, a gritty, undrafted success story who earned a multi-year contract on the back of elite perimeter defense. But despite his contributions, the Thunder must now think with clarity and discipline. And that means letting go of Dort in free agency.<\/p>\n

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Luguentz Dort is undeniably one of the league\u2019s more tenacious on-ball defenders<\/a>. He guards the opposing team\u2019s best perimeter player most nights and brings a level of physicality and effort that defined OKC\u2019s culture during their rebuild. But defense alone doesn\u2019t justify a long-term, high-cost investment, especially when his defensive impact doesn\u2019t always outweigh his offensive liabilities. He averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game in the regular season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, his numbers in the postseason declined, averaging around 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. In the playoffs, Dort\u2019s overhelping, frequent fouls, and gambling instincts were often exposed by elite offensive units. Though he competes hard, Dort sometimes breaks the defensive chain with poor switches or excessive physicality that leads to easy buckets or foul trouble.<\/p>\n

Dort deserves recognition for his role in OKC\u2019s rise from rebuilding anonymity to NBA champions. But the NBA is a forward-looking league, and sentimentality is a luxury no contender can afford. Given his offensive inefficiency, ball-stopping tendencies, rising cost, and blocking of younger talent, Dort no longer fits the Thunder\u2019s trajectory.<\/p>\n

The best move? Let him walk in free agency, reinvest the cap space into smarter role players or veteran depth, and allow the next generation of Thunder wings to flourish.<\/p>\n

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Related: Thunder\u2019s Alex Caruso gushes over Aaron Wiggins\u2019 mic drop moment before parade<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Thunder\u2019s Alex Caruso makes champagne shower promise after lame locker room celebration<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post The player Oklahoma City Thunder must avoid in 2025 NBA free agency appeared first on ClutchPoints.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[5577,7,366,896,126,364,6563,192,183,6,8123,310,475,179,3966,3965,526,3136,209,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-131603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-ajay-mitchell","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-chet-holmgren","11":"tag-free-agency","12":"tag-indiana-pacers","13":"tag-jalen-williams","14":"tag-jaylin-williams","15":"tag-la-clippers","16":"tag-luguentz-dort","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-nba-champions","19":"tag-oklahoma","20":"tag-oklahoma-city","21":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","22":"tag-oklahomacity","23":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","24":"tag-paul-george","25":"tag-sam-presti","26":"tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","27":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114761206631304276","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}