Hawks Acquire Lu Dort and Ryan Nembhard In Three-Team Trade With OKC and Dallas

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Atlanta Hawks have completed a three-team trade that gives the all-defensive forward Luguentz Dort from the Oklahoma City Thunder for three second-round picks. Atlanta is also acquiring Ryan Nembhard from the Dallas Mavericks and sending former No. 1overall pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Mavericks.

BREAKING: The Oklahoma City Thunder trading All-Defensive wing Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that sends three second-round picks to OKC, former No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/4ewUxhRQA5
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2026

What does this trade mean?

Lu Dort Oklahoma Cit — May 26, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots against San Antonio Spurs guard De'aaron Fox (4) during the second quarter in game five of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is a fascinating trade for the Hawks.

Risacher entered the summer as a potential trade candidate, but as the offseason went on, the likelihood of him staying continued to go up. After a solid first season in the NBA, which he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, Risacher struggled to find his role on the team and his scoring dipped and his playing time decreased as the season went on. Once he was replaced by CJ McCollum in the starting lineup, Risacher's playing time continued to decrease.

He is going to get a fresh start on a team that is rebuilding and he will have a chance at a larger role away from Atlanta.

The Hawks are getting one of the very best defenders in the NBA and a player who has been an good three-point shooter at decent volume. He finished 4th in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2024-2025 and was a first-team All-Defense player.

The best thing that Dort is going to bring to Atlanta is his toughness, physicality, and ability to set the tone on the defensive end of the court. Teaming Dort with Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker is going to form one of the best defenses in the NBA and the Hawks are going to be a brutal team to play against for opponents.

Last season, Dort averaged 8.3 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 26.8 MPG, shooting 38.5% from the floor (career worst) and 34.4% from three, his lowest since the 2022-2023 season. Dort is on a $17.8 million expiring contract.

It will be interesting to see if Dort starts or comes off the bench. Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and Dyson Daniels seem like locks to start this season, meaning either CJ McCollum or Nickeil Alexander-Walker could come off the bench.

Nembhard played in 60 games for the Mavericks last season as a rookie, averaging 19.5 MPG. For the season, he averaged 6.6 PPG and 5.3 APG, shooting 42% from the field and 36% from three. His contract is non-guaranteed for next season and given the Hawks current roster crunch, he is not a guarantee to be on the roster when the season begins, but he could be. Atlanta has to get the roster down to at least 15 when the season begins.

This is also the second trade that the Hawks have made with the Thunder this offseason. Before the draft, they sent the Thunder a pair of second-round picks for Aaron Wiggins. Hawks President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh is one of the most opportunistic front office executives in the league and he made another opportunistic trade by moving Risacher and acquiring Dort.

The Hawks could have up to $40 million in cap space next offseason after their moves this summer. Does not mean that they will, but the Hawks have the flexibility to have major space next summer.

Here is the updated cap/roster sheet for the Hawks following their trade for Dort and Nembhard:

1. Jalen Johnson-$30,000,000
2. Dyson Daniels- $25,000,000
3. CJ McCollum- $21,000,000
4. Luguentz Dort- $17,722,222
4. Onyeka Okongwu-$16,100,000
5. Nickeil Alexander-Walker- $14,403,710
6. Jock Landale- $14,000,000
7. Corey Kispert- $13,975,000
9. Buddy Hield- $9,658,536
10. Aaron Wiggins- $9,028,038
11. Kingston Flemings- $7,348,680 (estimate via spotrac)
12. Devin Carter- $5,158,080
13. Zuby Ejiofor- $3,453,360 (estimate via spotrac)
14. Asa Newell- $3,399,480
15. Mouhamed Gueye- $2,406,205
16. Ryan Nembhard- $2,150,917
17. Henri Veesaar-

Atlanta is now at $194,804,228 for the 17 players on their roster, close to $6 million below the luxury tax line.

There is still plenty of work for the Hawks to do on their roster, but they got better with this trade and they have a defensive identity forming around this current team.

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