The bar for Cason Wallace's next contract with the OKC Thunder has officially been set at $208 million.
That's the number Rockets guard Amen Thompson just landed via his recently inked five-year extension.
Now, while Thompson may have already shown more upside as an offensive weapon up to this point than Wallace, as he just averaged 18.3 points and 5.3 assists per game with Houston last season compared to Caso's 8.6 points and 2.6 assists per game averages, their earned accolades theoretically have them eligible to land the same kind of payday.
Both are entering their fourth season in the association with All-Defensive Team honors under their belts.
All summer long, it's been well known that the Thunder will need to pay up in order to hold onto their treasured defensive stalwart. Of course, less than a month ago, it was believed the worst-case scenario would be Oklahoma City needing to shell out somewhere in the $150 million range to hold onto his services.
Now, with Thompson's agreement, there's reason to believe that Wallace's asking price may have just gone up, especially if he decides to forego an extension this offseason and, instead, look to earn a new contract by way of free agency next summer.
Thunder could soon experience what Pistons are currently going through
Seeing a player looking to net a deal that mimics what their peers are earning is far from uncommon. In fact, it's happening right now with Jalen Duren and the Pistons.
During a recent edition of the Hoop Collective podcast, host Tim MacMahon discussed the ongoing holdout by Detroit's franchise center and suggested that a major factor in their talks is that Duren is looking to be compensated in the same vein as his fellow All-Stars from the 2022 NBA Draft.
Ironically, two of the three other stars from his class are Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, whom the Thunder extended to a 25.0 percent max contract just last summer.
Now, with Wallace, Oklahoma City could soon experience the uglier side of this particular situation, for shelling out an extension anywhere close to Thompson's $208 million deal would require a ton of behind-the-scenes gymnastics from Sam Presti and company.
Already, the Thunder are on the hook for the highest payroll in the entire association come the 2027-28 season at a ridiculous value of $237.7 million.
Needless to say, t'll be interesting to see how OKC's front office handles this situation moving forward. The deadline for an extension agreement to be reached between Wallace and the Thunder is October 19, the day before their regular-season tip-off against the San Antonio Spurs.
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