BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues
ROSTERED IN: 31% of leagues
ANALYSIS: Rostering Lu Dort in your fantasy team is the closest thing to rostering a linebacker--even if we're talking about basketball here. Dort is a goddam unit but that doesn't mean he can dance on the hardwood. He's definitely not one to target in the shallowest of formats, but for those in deeper leagues with packed rosters and slim picks, he should make for a good addition to make here and there.
Through Saturday, Dort is the second-best OKC player in fantasy leagues. That, of course, is because of the old adage of "availability is the best ability" as Dort has played the second-most minutes among Thunder players (only three fewer than SGA's 284). Josh Giddey is probably the actual best second fiddle in the team, but he's missed three games so there's that.
Dort is averaging 13+ PPG, almost 4 RPG, 2+ APG, and 1+ SPG. None of those marks is excellent by itself, but the combination of them all is something only 36 players are doing three weeks into the regular season. Only Dort and Marcus Morris are still available in about 70% of all ESPN leagues through Saturday.
If you're part of a punishing league (read: 9-cat), then Dort is definitely your man. The guard is just turning the ball over once per game through his nine games played to date. That's something only four of the 36 players in the aforementioned group are doing: Dort, Morris, Andrew Wiggins, and Tobias Harris. All of them have usage rates in the 17-to-21 percent clip.
Dort is hoisting nearly 13 FGA, on par with his career averages, but the actual FG% has yet to catch up with his prior mean percentages. Dort has shot 36.8% from the floor this season compared to 38.7% a couple of years back and 40.4% last season. He's also shooting two fewer 3PA per game than last year, so something is clearly going to positively regress in a short time.
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