OKC Thunder guard Cason Wallace has spent most of his NBA career playing the role of defensive disruptor. His ability to pester offenses and create turnovers was a big reason why Oklahoma City hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy last June, despite his modest offensive output.
Recently, however, injuries have forced Wallace to the forefront of OKC's offensive attack, and Wallace has not disappointed.
The former Kentucky Wildcat has taken full advantage of the absences of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell. He has adopted an on-ball role that Thunder fans had never seen from him before the month of February.
His 14.6 points per game this month are a stark contrast to his 8.9 points over the course of the entire season. In fact, they fail to resemble any numbers in his career, dating back to his college days.
Thunder never expected Cason Wallace to be an offensive centerpiece
As a freshman at Kentucky, Wallace averaged just 11.7 points per game and was drafted to be more of a defensive-minded combo guard.
His early offensive game in the NBA was even more mundane.
Wallace averaged 6.8 and 8.4 points in his first two seasons, and nearly disappeared on box scores during OKC's title run last year. His 5.6 playoff points per game, accompanied by a suboptimal 42.9 percent shooting percentage, left fans wondering if they would ever be able to rely on the 2023 lottery pick to consistently put up points.
Lately, though, Caso's success has set him up to be a legitimate contributor for the rest of the season... and he knows it.
"[The recent success is] just a confidence boost. I’ll be in those situations later in the season. Getting those reps now helps with that," Wallace said.
Cason Wallace's offense gives Thunder a cheat code off the bench
Assuming the Thunder's starting five return to health in time for the playoffs, Wallace will end up taking his rightful place as one of the mainstays of the second unit.
Up until three weeks ago, the idea that the third-year man would be a key cog in the offense was never in the cards.
Now, the backcourt combination of him and Ajay Mitchell is a potential dual-threat nightmare for opposing second-stringers.
With Mitchell boasting the best defensive field goal percentage in the NBA before his injury, the Thunder's perimeter defense off the bench may be better than that of their starters.
Combine such a skillset with 15 points per game each from the young pair, and defending OKC for 48 minutes could prove an impossible task for any team that dares challenge their title defense.