LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 10: LeBron James # 23 of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball … [+]
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The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Lu Dort has made great strides offensively over the past year. He has doubled his points and aided every game from his rookie year to this season.
In a game against the San Antonio Spurs earlier in the week, Dort scored 16 points and fired 4-of-7 from deep. The most important 3-point of the four came in the final seconds of the game, when Dort put down his first-ever game winner at any level.
After the photo he won in the game, Al Horford was asked about Dort and his accomplishment. Instead of talking about his development as an offensive player, he commented on Dort’s defensive ability.
Horford is not wrong about Dort being one of the best defenders in the NBA. In fact, Dort was recently listed in the top five of the NBA defensive player of the year on NBA.com.
Dort leads the way in defending the best guard or shield of teams every special night. He never goes down from the challenge, making life difficult for some of the most explosive scores in the entire league.
Oklahoma City have excelled on defense this season with Dort leading the team at that end of the floor. In addition, the Thunder has the 12th best defense rating (110.2) in the entire league. Through their 13 games in the month of February, Oklahoma City have the second-best defensive rating (107.5) in the NBA, showing significant improvement.
Already known as one of the best defenders in the league, Lu Dort is fast becoming one of the top two-way players in the NBA. Whether it’s locking a superstar on defense, or scoring at a high level on offense, Dort can do it all.
To make matters even better for the Oklahoma City headquarters, Dort is only making about $ 1.52 million this season. This makes his contracts one of the most attractive and friendly for any team in the entire NBA.