Tre Mann’s Production has Risen Since Lu Dort’s Injury

Tre Mann has been one of the biggest surprises for the Thunder so far this season. His elite shot creation skills plus his outside scoring is incredibly promising.

While he struggled to knock down the shot after creating space this summer league and early on in the season, his shots started to fall around January.

Mann came on strong, posting a career-high of 29 points against the Mavericks in February, and had a two-week stretch of multiple 20-point performances. He has also dazzled with his athleticism, which was underrated coming into the league to say the least.

When Lu Dort and Josh Giddey both went down, it gave Mann an increased role and a chance to play with the starters. Since commanding a starting spot, Mann has looked very comfortable.

While he’s been comfortable, he’s percentages have slipped a bit due to the volume of shots he’s taking. Mann is the second scoring option behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, which is asking a lot out of a rookie. Not many rookies from the 2021 draft class are No. 1 or No. 2 options on their respective teams.

Mann has had a few duds since Dort went down, including a 2-of-13 performance against Utah and a 5-of-14 outing against Charlotte last week. But, the experience is priceless. Mann is getting to run the offense with the second unit and take huge shots down the stretch.

Since Dort’s injury, he’s also had huge games. The week that Dort went down, Mann notched a 24-point game followed by a 30-point new career high. His usage his increased, causing his percentages to decrease, but the moment is something he needed to experience.

On the season, Mann is now averaging 9.4 points per game while shooting 38% from the floor. His 3-point percentage is down just a tick to 34.5%.

While the point totals have fluctuated, and the percentages have gone down slightly, the trajectory is still trending upwards on Mann. OKC is asking a lot out of a rookie and he’s producing in an extended role.