How Will Lu Dort fit in Atlanta? Player Breakdown and Scheme Fit

On Sunday, the Atlanta Hawks made one of their biggest moves of their offseason by trading for Thunder forward Luguentz Dort, one of the premier defenders in the NBA. Dort was one of the key players for the Oklahoma City Thunder during their rebuild and during their run to the NBA Championship last season; he finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was a first-team All-Defense player.

The Hawks had been looking for a wing that would fit their style of play and I think that with him on the team, Atlanta is going to be one of the toughest teams to play night in and night out for every opponent.

Dort's fit in Atlanta is not a seamless one, though I think Hawks head coach Quin Snyder will figure everything out when the season begins.

Let's break down how Dort fits in Atlanta.

Offensively

This end of the court is where I have the biggest questions about Dort.

When the Hawks traded away Trae Young, they shifted away from the heliocentric version of offense that Young likes to play. Atlanta shot three's at one of the highest rates in the NBA and ran a lot of different actions involving multiple players on the court.

That is not exactly what Dort does. He is not going to cut to the basket and was a relatively low usage player with OKC. He is an ok rebounder, though not on the offensive end, and does not get to the free throw line.

What the Hawks are going to need from Dort on the offensive end of the court is for him to hit open three-pointers and not turn the ball over.

Dort was exceptional at not turning the ball over when he was with the Thunder. In his seven seasons with Oklahoma City, Dort ranked in at least the 80th percentile in turnover percentage in four of his seasons with the Thunder and never ranked lower than the 73rd percentile. He does not turn the ball over and winning the possession game is one of the biggest keys in the NBA.

The three-point shooting seems like the swing skill for how effective Dort can be on offense.

He was an up-and-down three-point shooter while with the Thunder, shooting 35.8% for his career, but five of his seven seasons with Oklahoma City saw him shoot below that number. The two best shooting seasons of his career came in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, where he shot 39.4% on five attempts per game and then a career best 41.2% on 5.8 attempts per game.

So what kind of season will he have shooting the ball and can he get high quality looks on the Hawks? What kind of lineups will Snyder use him with? Can Dort and Dyson Daniels play together?

Defensively

Dort should have no problem fitting in on defense, which is why the Hawks traded for him in the first place.

Even if you think Dort might be a little overrated on defense due to playing with other elite defenders on Oklahoma City, Dort plays with a level of physicality that Atlanta needed. He can guard lead ball-handlers while also scaling up and taking on more physical matchups against forwards. The Hawks had problems guarding OG Anunoby and the toughness that he brought to the court every night and Dort is going to help the Hawks with that.

Bottom line

Dort is not a seamless fit for Atlanta, but if you watched their playoff series against the Knicks, you coiuld see that the Hawks needed more physicality and defense. I think that Dort is going to be a tremendous fit for the Hawks on defense and gives them three All-NBA level defenders with Daniels and Alexander-Walker.

If he can hit open shots and continue to not turn the ball over, I think that he can be a fit with Atlanta on that end of the floor.

Dort gives the Hawks toughness, physicality on defense, and playoff experience. Will that pay off this season?

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