Lu Dort’s growth as a defender has led to a star like Lillard calling him the best

Lu Dort has gradually become one of the best defenders in the league. Dort entered the league as an undrafted rookie who signed for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He worked his way into the regular rotation by being relentless on defense, which OKC needed in their first season of a new era without Russell Westbrook.

The team was centered on a veteran, Chris Paul, and a sophomore Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Both players were superb, but they were not at their defensive peak, as CP3 was getting older while Shai hadn’t developed yet. Thankfully, they had an eager Dort ready to break into the rotation as a defender.

His growth has been fun for OKC fans because he is now one of the very best stoppers in the league, earning the respect of superstars like Damian Lillard.

“Lu Dort. I think he has the perfect balance of strength, quickness, speed and desire to do it. And he’s young. So I just think he is the best at it,” Lillard said to The Athletic about being guarded by Dort. “I just know what I’m dealing with. With a guy like him, I go at him first, so he knows he isn’t going to come in here thinking he is the boss of this s**t. He’s going to have to be on his job, and he’s going to have to know that from the beginning.”

Dort has defensive qualities any perimeter player would want

When Lu is playing defense, he is always in a stable stance. That is the key to him being a superb defender, but at the same time, he is active with his movements. His hands, in particular, are constantly moving, as he knows the opponents can get bothered when they keep moving the ball away.

Even in off-ball situations, Dort has the strength and speed to keep up with his matchup, even going through some of the hardest screens. Players like James Harden, Stephen Curry, and Lillard became familiar with Lu because he made their lives tougher on offense.

The 2023-24 season was a good campaign for Dort because he had strong performances against some top players. He held stars like Anthony Edwards, Jamal Murray, and Donovan Mitchell to under 50% from the field across their matchups.

Dort is in the same tier as Holiday

Most of the time, Jrue Holiday is the name players mention as the best defender in the league. Dame himself had struggled against Jrue during the 2018 Playoffs when the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans swept the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers because of Holiday’s defense.

Dort has performed well enough to be on the same level as elite defenders like Holiday and Alex Caruso. That bodes well for the OKC Thunder because they have Dort, Caruso, and a much-improved SGA ready to stop their matchups from getting easy shots off.

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