Key Points
- The Hawks acquired Lu Dort and Ryan Nembhard in a three-team trade Saturday.
- Dallas gets Zaccharie Risacher; Oklahoma City gets three second-round picks.
- The Thunder shed roughly $200 million in salary this offseason across three trades.
- Dort pairs with Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on Atlanta's perimeter.
The Atlanta Hawks acquired All-Defensive wing Lu Dort from the Oklahoma City Thunder and guard Ryan Nembhard from the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team trade Saturday, ESPN reported. Dallas receives Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, and Oklahoma City receives three second-round picks.
The Thunder picked up Dort's $17 million-plus team option rather than declining it, then flipped him for the picks — the third such money-shedding move of the offseason after trades involving Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins pushed roughly $200 million in salary off Oklahoma City's books and kept the defending champions under the second luxury-tax apron. "This was a financial decision," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "The impression I have been given is that the savings generated this summer... will be re-allocated to future teams."
For the Hawks, Dort — fourth in last season's Defensive Player of the Year voting and a 2025 All-Defensive First Team selection — joins Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the perimeter, giving Atlanta three recent All-Defensive players in its backcourt and wing rotation. The trade also clears Atlanta's books toward roughly $40 million in cap space next offseason. Nembhard arrives with roughly $2.15 million guaranteed for 2026-27 on the second year of his contract, which Dallas exercised in late June, before the trade. It is Oklahoma City's second trade sending a rotation piece to Atlanta this offseason, after the Thunder sent Aaron Wiggins to the Hawks for two second-round picks.
Risacher, the runner-up for 2024-25 Rookie of the Year, moves to a Dallas roster built around younger talent. Oklahoma City's latest asset-for-cap-space swap follows a pattern set earlier this offseason when the champions re-signed starting center Isaiah Hartenstein to a three-year, $75 million deal.
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