OKC Thunder: Could Lu Dort's Shot Selection be Even More Refined in 2024-25?

Sixth-year man Lu Dort blew his shooting percentages out of the water a year ago. Could he improve even more in the season ahead?

OKC's Lu Dort (5) celebrates after a basket against Utah on Nov. 24 at Paycom Center. cover / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Lu Dort created an environment of offensive reliability to accompany one of the Thunder's best offensive groups in recent years. This hasn't necessarily been something he's excelled at per se, but one thing can be attributed to his shooting efficiency leap from a year ago -- shot selection.

Last season, Dort's abiilty to accurately assess a play and confidently choose when to shoot and when to not was the primary reason for his shooting progression. A five-percent jump as an overall shooter, over a six-percent increase as a 3-point shooter and bettering his free throw numbers by another five-percent.

Overall, he averaged his least amount of points since his rookie campaign, but his switch-up in shooting frequency dramatically changed on top of that -- Dort's attempts from the field went from 11.8 to 8.3 throughout his 79 games. Conversely, his 3-point attempts only dropped by .5, so it's safe to say he placed an emphasis on dialing in his outside shot and let it fly when he felt it was necessary. This is something he'd struggled with through his early years, as he couldn't quite find his sweet spot and never appeared highly confident in his outside shot.

That changed last season -- but could he build off that in his sixth year in the league?

It's difficult to say, and a 39.4% clip from three is no easy feat, and would be highly impressive to improve upon, but it's not impossible. With the arrival of Alex Caruso, Dort's role will shift some as another 3-and-D guy is integrated. This will eat at some of the touches Dort might see, and could allow him to provide a bit more emphasis on specializing in his role. But shooting nearly 44% from the field and nearly 40% from three, that's not a walk in the park regardless of how you minimize your shot selection.

Dort's focus is as a defender -- not as an offensive contributor. And while it seems that he has dialed in his offensive approach, it'll still take some getting used to now with several other pieces in the mix. He could improve upon his numbers from a year ago, but maintaining would be just as beneficial for this year's Thunder squad.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.