ESPN: Dort Potential Surprise Player for Thunder

ESPN asked its experts to come up with one potential surprise player for each team in the bubble. We'll tell you why they picked Lu Dort.

As we get ready for the Thunder's scrimmage against the Boston Celtics on July 24th, publications are starting to break down the teams playing in the bubble. ESPN asked its experts to come up with potential surprise players for the 22-teams that will be playing in Orlando. 

The Thunder have no shortage of players to choose from in this category. There's Andre Roberson, who seems poised to see his first minutes in two years, Darius Bazley, who missed 11 games with a knee bone bruise and has been hitting the weights religiously during his time off.  

You also have Terrance Ferguson, who lost his starting job in January and seems to be earning his way back on to the court by being reliable.  As good as those three candidates are, Royce Young went with  Lu Dort. 

Young Says:

"Dort became an instant fan-favorite in OKC because of his knack for momentum-changing plays, hustle, tenacity, and, most of all, his relatively improved shooting (35.7% from 3 as a starter) at a position long devoid of it. He was on a two-way deal for the entire season but got a full time NBA contract on June 24th. It's expected that he'll maintain his starting position and build on the success he had as an impact player (OKC was 16-5 with him as a starter). By the end of the season, NBA fans are going to be a lot more familiar with Dort."

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Dort has started in 21 games since taking over for Ferguson but is not guaranteed to be in that same role once the season restarts. Billy Donovan says;

 "I'm not opposed to starting him that was good for our team."... "I thought that was a good lineup for our team." ..."We've gotta look a playing more people because we don't know what the future's gonna hold in terms of how everybody handles being inside the bubble."

Dort says he's doing his best to learn from Ferguson and Roberson.

"The only thing I'm trying to do is really learn from them because they've been in the league for a long time."

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With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.