There's a growing belief that an internal battle between Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell is quietly underway to decide who will be the starting two guard for the OKC Thunder this coming season.
While most may have initially assumed the role was Wallace's to lose following the offseason departure of Lu Dort, considering Mitchell's high-end production when inserted into the starting unit last season, coupled with coach Mark Daigneault's noncommittal rhetoric so far in training camp, it's fair to say both have a strong argument for why they deserve the nod.
Heading into Tuesday's preseason opener, it appears Mitchell will be the one to receive the first crack at taking on primary starter duties this year.
On Monday, it was announced that Wallace, along with six other Thunder players, will be inactive for the club's upcoming exhibition against the Pelicans out in Tulsa.
With this report, Mitchell and Isaiah Hartenstein will be the only two players suiting up in the contest who logged north of 20 minutes a night last season, which presumably means they'll be locks to slot into the first five unit to kick things off.
Thunder were virtually unstoppable with Ajay Mitchell in starting lineup
When Ajay Mitchell was slotted into the starting unit last season, the OKC Thunder were virtually unstoppable.
During the regular season, the 24-year-old started 16 games, posting impressive averages of 14.9 points, 3.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on 49.4 percent shooting from the floor and 41.7 percent shooting from deep.
Come playoff time, he started seven times and saw his production skyrocket to 18.4 points, 4.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steals while leading all eligible players in plus-minus at plus-14.6.
Throughout this 23 game sample size, the Thunder lost just once and outscored their opponents by an average of 16 points per game.
Now, despite this ridiculous 95.6 winning percentage, the Thunder more often than not ran with starting units with the more defensively dominant Wallace (logged 58 starts), due, in large part, to his similar style of play to that of Dort.
With this in mind, should they wish to continue with the rotation formula that won them a championship two seasons ago, Wallace could find himself earning the nod by default.
However, Sam Presti stressed the idea that this team could "reimagine" how they operate moving forward; perhaps going with the offensive firepower Mitchell provides is a realistic course of action.
Though Ajay may be in line to receive the first shot at slotting into the starting unit this preseason, expect coach Daigneault to experiment with him and Wallace before making a final decision.
Add us as a preferred source on Google