New Hawks forward Lu Dort knows how to blend in and make an impact

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- New Hawks forward Lu Dort already feels at home with the team.

It helps that he already has a familiar face with him in former Thunder and now Hawks teammate Aaron Wiggins. But it’s mostly because everyone has willingly shared their perspectives and their personalities.

“It makes it much easier,” Dort told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “When you got guys on the team that, it’s not only (staying) to themselves, and then they open up and they speak about, you know, anything.

“And we all know we play basketball, but at the same time we all have different lives. So, when we come together and we’re allowed to talk about anything, it’s always easier.”

The Hawks acquired Dort in July from the Thunder as part of a three-team deal that sent former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Mavericks.

The trade didn’t catch Dort, who played a significant role in the Thunder’s 2024 NBA Championship run, off guard. The Montreal native had an idea that something would come down the pipeline as the Thunder shuffled their roster around, with the financials being a primary motivator.

But Dort, who signed a two-way contract with the Thunder in 2019 after going undrafted, has carried with him to Atlanta the same mentality that turned him into a seven-year starter, one-time NBA All-Defense member and a champion.

“That’s the mentality that stays all the time,” he said. “I mean, no matter what circumstance, whatever team I’m on, or even though I played for OKC for seven seasons, and now I’m going to a new team, I feel like it’s always the mentality that’s stuck to my head.

“Now it’s just to go out there and have fun. I know this team and this organization respects me a lot from what I’ve done in the league. So now I just got to come in and really blend in and learn about the whole system and everything else and get to know my teammates and get to spend some time on the court with my teammates and stuff. But I feel like this mentality will always stay in my head.”

Dort understands that it will take time to build the cohesiveness that he had with former teammates in Oklahoma City with his new teammates in Atlanta. But he’s already finding the fun and joy in building new relationships.

“I know it’s a young group of guys, and they have different personalities, and a lot of guys are funny,” Dort said. “And when you have teammates like that, I mean, it’s easy to just blend in and get closer to one another. So it’ll take some time, but we’ll get there for sure.”

So, who’s the funniest?

“Coach (Tony) Lang and (coach) Ekpe (Udoh), those two, they kill me,” Dort said. “I mean, Wiggs, Wiggs is always going to be one of the funniest guys that I know. Ace (Asa Newell) has a little bit of goofiness to him as well. We just got a great team of different personalities, but there’s a lot of funny guys.”

Beyond the laughs, Dort adds even more stoutness to a defense that began to find its footing at the end of last season. The Hawks already have two elite wing defenders in Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.