Lu Dort Discusses Improvement Point For 2024-25 Thunder Season

The Oklahoma City Thunder could stand to see Lu Dort improve at the rim this season which the defensive ace discussed at Media Day.

Apr 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half of game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City is poised to compete for a championship this season and need to be clicking on all cylinders to fulfil their lofty expectations during the 2024-25 NBA campaign.

Even after a summer of moves to bolster thier roster, the Oklahoma City Thunder will still lean on internal development to carry them across the finish line in their hopes of climbing a championship mountain as Thunder General Manager Sam Presti puts it.

One of those areas of internal growth a year ago was defensive ace Lu Dort improving his efficency on offense - Admitting to cutting out "wild shots," which led to some clunky numbers from the floor.

In addition to Dort's 3-point percentage sky rocketing, he also set a career best mark at the rim - Though that still sits at just 57 percent which ranks in the 22nd percentile. Clearly an area that still needs polishing. On Monday, Dort discussed how he has worked on growing that aspect of his game.

"Be in the gym and work on it, honestly. Just spend a lot of time. Most of the time that I had this offseason to be in the gym and to work on my game. Obviously it was something that I still need to get better at, and I'm aware of that, so I'm just in the gym with my trainer most of the time and really work on it," Dort said at Media Day.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will begin their training camp on Tuesday with their first preseason game slated for Oct. 7 in San Antonio against the Spurs.

I asked Lu Dort about improving at the rim "Be in the gym and work on it, honestly. Just spend a lot of time. Most of the time that I had this offseason to be in the gym and to work on my game. Obviously it was something that I still need to get better at, and I'm aware of that,…

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) September 30, 2024

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