Thunder, Hawks and Mavericks eye three-team trade involving Dort and Risacher

ESPN's Shams Charania said the Thunder exercised Lu Dort's $17.7 million contract option for 2026-27 on Monday, even as Dort was linked to a three-team trade that would send him to the Hawks and Zaccharie Risacher to the Mavericks.

For Oklahoma City, Dort is not a throw-in. He has spent all seven seasons of his career with the Thunder, becoming one of the league's more established perimeter stoppers. Keeping his $17.7 million option on the books shows how valuable that defensive stability is, but the trade framework also highlights the tension every front office faces between continuity and roster rebalancing.

Atlanta's piece of the deal turns on Risacher, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. AP and Sportsnet described him as a 19-year-old French wing listed at 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, with Sportsnet saying the Hawks viewed him as a catch-and-shoot scorer with ideal size. He was only the second No. 1 overall pick in Hawks history, after a draft night in New York that carried outsized expectations from the start.

The Hawks' willingness to consider moving Risacher in the right scenario, a possibility John Hollinger of The Athletic later raised, fits a team still searching for the right balance between long-term upside and immediate fit. Trading a young wing with elite draft status would be a clear signal that Atlanta is willing to convert potential into more finished pieces if the return better stabilizes its rotation.

Dallas would be the most striking landing spot from a franchise-building standpoint. HoopsHype said the Mavericks would have three No. 1 overall picks on the roster if the deal became official, with Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving and Risacher all in place. That kind of concentration of top draft pedigree would underscore how aggressively Dallas is willing to stack high-end talent, even as the league keeps weighing whether proven role players or young former top picks hold the better long-term value.