No NBA team has spawned more young stars in recent memory than the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it sure looks like the assembly line is churning out another one. Third-year guard Cason Wallace is suddenly complementing his dogged defense with more than a few floor-and-ceiling-raising offensive outbursts, and even if it's too soon to make big-picture proclamations about him, it's not too early to be tantalized about his future (and OKC's as a result).
"They've needed Cason Wallace," ESPN's Tim MacMahon said on The Hoop Collective. "He's made his impact primarily on the defensive end. They've needed him to be an on-ball creator, and he has answered the bell. ... Cason Wallace's growth this month, him taking advantage of the opportunities that came from injury misfortune, this is a huge development for the Thunder's chances of repeating this year."
This is the kind of surge that could, should it sustain, pave Wallace's path to full-fledged stardom. And while it might eventually make OKC's financial future even trickier to navigate, it could also make the defending champs even harder to handle this postseason.
Cason Wallace's breakout hints at both a short-term boost and a long-term bill.
Wallace's defensive reputation is already set in stone. He handles premier perimeter matchups and still manages to cause maximum chaos. He is the league's resident steals leader (2.1) and a top-five performer by deflections (4.3 per game, second among all rotation regulars, per NBA.com). Oh, and those stars he typically tussles with shoot 2.1 percentage points worse against him than they do on average.
So, yeah, we are very much talking about an absolute game-wrecker on the defensive end. But that's not what he's turning so many heads of late.
Instead, it's his work on the game's more glamorous end that is quickly upping both his profile around the league and his long-term earnings potential. Because he's already reeled off five 20-point performances in 11 tries this month, including each of his last three trips inside the lines. He's also dished out five-plus assists in seven of those contests and created a canyon between his averages in assists (4.9) and turnovers (1.4).
If this is the kind of player Wallace really is, then the Thunder should probably start giving more than a little thought to his next contract. Because, as Brian Windhorst put it in the same pod, "Cason Wallace, at some point by somebody, is gonna get paid."
That could get tricky for an Oklahoma City team that has already handed out several huge deals and has other up-and-comers progressing toward their own paydays. That is, however, a (serious) concern for another day.
For now, the Thunder can just enjoy the Cason Wallace show and hope it at least carries on long enough to continue covering up the absences of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell. They can also crossed-fingers hope that Wallace keeps this going even longer, because having another capable on-ball creator (who just happens to be an elite defender) would only improve their championship chances.