3 Thunder players who are underperforming, 4 exceeding expectations at the All-Star break

Cason Wallace is exceeding expectations

Over the past 10 NBA Drafts, the 10th pick has yielded a wide variety of players, ranging from a fringe All-Star in Mikal Bridges to spectacular busts in Johnny Davis and Thon Maker. In terms of playing time, Cason Wallace's 20.7 minutes per game is right about the average for a rookie picked No. 10.

Where Wallace has excelled is as a shooter. Most rookies struggle to adjust form what was likely a larger role in high school and college into a smaller role in the pros; one way they almost always struggle is as a shooter, creating fewer shots for themselves and stepping back to the longer 3-point arc.

Not so for Wallace, who is shooting 61.4 percent from 2-point range and a scorching 41.2 percent from deep. From that batch of No. 10 picks, his 63 true-shooting percentage (TS%) ranks first with a bullet, ranking as high above No. 2 as 2 is from No. 7. Rookies don't tend to do this.

In fact, of all rookies from the last decade with a rotation role, Caron Wallace's 63 TS% ranks 16th; if you eliminate all bigs from the list, he shoots up to first. The next non-big on the list is Landry Shamet at 60.4 percent. Wallace is around players such as John Collins and Jarrett Allen; again, as a rookie point guard he is shooting as efficiently as an interior dunker.

If that were all Wallace were providing it would be plenty at this point in his career, but he is bringing a lot more to the table. He is active in passing lanes and even as a weakside shot-blocker, and while his playmaking has a ways to grow he is moving the ball well and rarely turning it over. He has been an ideal role player already as a rookie on a contending team, and his arrow is pointing straight up.