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Thunder take care of Dort

Thanks to a team option on the final season of Luguentz Dort's four-year minimum contract, Oklahoma City faced a choice this summer. The Thunder could keep Dort at the minimum ($1.9 million) and let him become an unrestricted free agent in 2023 or re-sign him now with matching rights to protect them. Oklahoma City decided to be proactive, signing Dort to a monster five-year, $87.5 million deal that confirms him as part of the team's core.

Remarkably, Dort joins max All-Stars Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine as one of three players to get five-year deals so far in free agency. Unlike those stars, in this case the long-term deal is likely about the Thunder getting Dort under contract for as much of his 20s as possible. Having gone undrafted at age 20, Dort won't turn 28 until just after the final regular season of this deal.

Playing for a rebuilding Oklahoma City team has given Dort the ability to stretch his legs offensively. He had a 23% usage rate last season while improving his true shooting percentage to .541 -- still not league average, but not bad for a defensive-minded player creating so much of his own offense. Since Dort is a mediocre outside shooter (33% from 3-point range both in 2021-22 and for his career), it will be interesting to watch whether he can keep improving his efficiency as the Thunder adds more talent around him.

Either way, Dort will be a defensive menace. He burst on the scene at that end, serving as a wing stopper for a Thunder team that reached the playoffs as a rookie originally signed to a two-way contract. At 6-foot-3, Dort often gives up size to his opposing number but is rarely at a disadvantage in terms of strength because he's built like an NFL linebacker. Dort also has quick feet to contain opponents 1-on-1, though it would be nice to see him generate more steals than he has the past two seasons.

It's great to see Dort's work be rewarded after three years playing for the minimum. Although the luxury tax is a concern, believe it or not, Oklahoma City could structure this deal to start at its maximum point and descend, meaning Dort would be making around $15 million by the final season. That far down the road, with a new TV deal kicking in, $15 million might be typical money for a reserve rather than a starter.

Nuggets sign Bruce Brown

After dealing a pair of starters last season (Will Barton and Monte Morris) for one who projects as a starter (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) earlier this week, Denver will replenish some of that depth by signing Bruce Brown Jr. away from the Brooklyn Nets for what ESPN's Malika Andrews reported is a two-year deal for a little more than $13 million, with a player option on the second season.

Brown's contract utilizes the Nuggets' taxpayer midlevel exception, their only avenue for adding players in free agency at more than the veterans minimum. At that price, Brown looks like both a great fit and great value.

Having started a combined 82 games over his two seasons in Brooklyn, Brown is capable of stepping in at small forward if Michael Porter Jr. continues to deal with back issues after undergoing season-ending surgery last year. Alternatively, lineups with Brown and Porter at the forward spots should be effective because Porter is big enough to guard opposing 4s while Brown fills that role on offense -- a position he sort of invented, as I wrote about earlier this year.

Just how effective Brown will be hinges on his ability to maintain last season's career-best 40% 3-point shooting, which was out of line with his overall mark (33%). If opponents have to pay attention to Brown beyond the arc, it makes it easier to play him at small forward alongside Aaron Gordon and fits Denver's vision of putting strong shooters and defenders around the duo of Jamal Murray and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

Either way, Brown's unorthodox ability to find open spaces as a cutter makes him an ideal complement to Jokic's court vision.

The value was good enough for the Nuggets that they do have to worry about losing Brown next season, when they'll be able to offer only a 20% raise using non-Bird rights if he declines his player option. Denver might have to sell Brown on signing another short-term deal to establish early Bird rights, which we've seen the LA Clippers (Nicolas Batum) and Milwaukee Bucks (Bobby Portis) utilize to retain players this summer.

I still don't love the Nuggets downgrading at backup point guard with Murray coming back from an ACL tear, and they'd have to utilize a trade exception to add a quality reserve there, but the theory of Denver's trade with the Washington Wizards makes a lot more sense in the context of adding Brown.