Thunder guard Cason Wallace wants to 'throw some bumps' at players in year two

The OKC Thunder may have been a team chock full of stars both super and budding last season, but, for the most part, they were a squad dominated by young and promising talents.

Found regularly participating within coach Mark Daigneault's rotation were two rookie ballers in Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, both of whom played in all 82 games on the year and, with their impressive play, qualified for end-of-season All-Rookie teams.

Though the bulk of attention may have been drawn toward the Rookie of the Year runner-up Holmgren, perhaps lost in his 7-foot-1 shadow was just how impressive of a showing Wallace had.

The 10 overall selection quickly established himself as one of the game's brightest young 3-and-D weapons, and, in 20.6 minutes per night, dropped averages of 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and just shy of a steal on 49.1 percent shooting from the floor and 41.9 percent shooting from deep while boasting a defensive rating of 113.

Now, heading into year two, the hope is that he can continue to find his trajectory moving upward and take on larger roles within Oklahoma City's scheme.

However, during Monday's Media Day, Wallace revealed that he spent a large chunk of the offseason bulking up to incorporate a specific trait into his bag of tricks.

Thunder sophomore Cason Wallace wants to be more physical in 2024-25

During a sit-down at the Thunder Media Day festivities, it was noted that Cason Wallace has been working on his strength training as he approaches the start of year two in his career, and admitted that his goal for 2024-25 is to be more physical and dish out more "bumps" to opposing players.

"That goes to being a rookie and not knowing what it takes to play at this high level. I knew this upcoming year I wanted to have a few more pounds on me so I can absorb more bumps and be able to throw some bumps out there. That was a bit part of the summer," Wallace said.

As mentioned, Wallace proved himself to be a quality defensive talent during his debut campaign with the Thunder. He showed his worth even more prominently when pressure was increased under the bright lights of the NBA Playoffs.

Packing on extra pounds is something that could seriously help him improve upon his already impressive efforts on the less glamorous side of the ball, especially when found in back-down situations against larger opponents (remember, Wallace is only 6-foot-3).

On top of this, the increased strength could go on to benefit him on the offensive side as well, as he may wish to now make driving the lane more of a regular occurrence, which would only make him a more dangerous scoring option.

At 20 years old, Wallace has an incredibly bright future ahead of him, and, in time, could very well establish himself as the future of the shooting guard position.

Increasing his strength is a great step in the right direction as he looks to build off a stellar debut campaign.