Once it was announced that Nikola Topic would be shelved for the rest of training camp and likely through the early stages of the 2025-26 regular season, concern started to grow regarding what this could mean for his role within the OKC Thunder scheme.
After missing all of last year with a partially torn ACL, it was already believed that the point guard would be facing an uphill battle trying to carve out a consistent spot within coach Mark Daigneault's already battle-tested rotation.
Now, while some may have held faith that his well-documented ability to distribute and play-make for others would help reserve a spot for him within the lineup once he's cleared to return, based on the way Cason Wallace was both used and played in Thursday night's matchup against Charlotte, it appears that banking on this ideology is far from logical.
Cason Wallace excelled in playmaking role during Thunder vs Hornets
In the club's second preseason game without Topic, and their third overall, the third-year guard took on extended minutes serving as a primary playmaker for the Thunder, dropping precise and effective dimes left and right throughout his 22 minutes of action.
By game's end, Wallace found himself boasting a game-high 8 assists to go along with just one turnover.
His efforts on this end certainly caught the attention of coach Daigneault, who, following the contest, couldn't help but gush over how high a floor the former lottery pick has as an NBA player.
Since being selected 10 overall back in the 2023 NBA Draft, Wallace has continuously turned heads with his impressive on-court production and abilities as an overall talent.
Though perhaps best known for his elite defensive chops and smooth long-range shooting stroke, Wallace's ability to play the role of floor general was on full display during Oklahoma City's 122-116 win over the Hornets on Thursday.
This development shouldn't come as all that great of a shock, as the Kentucky product admitted at media day that he spent the offseason working on becoming more aggressive and active on the offensive side of the ball.
While this certainly is a positive for the Thunder as a whole, Wallace proving himself to be highly capable of filling in as a distributor and set-up artist could, in theory, make the need for Topic getting involved in the rotation early and often even less necessary, thus making his road to relevancy in year one all the more challenging as a result.