With Lu Dort now down in Atlanta, Cason Wallace is believed to be the most likely candidate to take over his role as starting shooting guard for the OKC Thunder.
The fourth-year lottery talent has managed to shine bright throughout his tenure in the Sooner State and has universally established himself as one of the best young two-way studs the game currently has to offer.
With a rotational promotion and an uptick in usage expected to be on the horizon, there has been much buzz about Wallace being seen as an early candidate to take home the league's Most Improved Player award come next season.
Of course, in a modern era infatuated by offensive excellence, there's a chance that the 22-year-old may already be at a slight disadvantage in the race for the illustrious honor, for though he's highly efficient on this end of the floor, he's never been one to stuff the scoring column.
Frankly, the Thunder are so stacked in this department as is, he still may find himself facing an uphill battle to significantly up his points-per-game averages even with a spot in the first five unit.
Thunder guard faces uphill battle to significantly up scoring numbers
Even during the 58 games Wallace started last season, he only found himself averaging 9.3 points per game. While this may not be a problem for Thunder fans, as his M.O. is providing defensive excellence and steady secondary scoring skills, it could prove to be a slight against him once votes are cast.
Over the last 20 seasons, there has been just one player who has taken home MIP to average fewer than 15.0 points per game -- Dyson Daniels, who posted 14.1 points a night back in 2024-25.
Clearly, voters want to see splashy scoring feats before sending in their ballots.
Now, while Wallace has certainly proven himself capable of buying his fair share of buckets over the years, with him presumably taking over for Dort in the starting lineup, it's only logical to assume he'll be playing a very similar role to the now-departed veteran.
As Thunder fans are well aware, said role is that of a defensive enforcer out on the perimeter and a steady off-the-catch shooter.
Even during Dort's best season while serving as the primary two guard within this core rotation as constructed, he still averaged fewer than 11.0 points per game.
Simply put, there are just too many primary scoring weapons ahead of Wallace in OKC's pecking order to feel comfortable banking on him dropping scoring averages in the mid-teens, which, in turn, could put him at a disadvantage regarding his candidacy for MIP.
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