There was a point in time during Oklahoma City’s rebuild where rookies had a full runway to develop on the court in real games. Often times, they were given a chance to start early on, and remain in the starting lineup for valuable reps. Oklahoma City’s development program is one of the best, and the organization utilizes the G League affiliate in a terrific way. But they ascended to the top so fast, that some of the newer prospects didn’t get to experience the long runway of the rebuilding days.
While Cason Wallace was never a developmental project player, he joined the best team in the NBA right away. If he was going to secure playing time, he had to be good right off the bat — and he was. But there was still not a whole lot of room in the starting lineup. His first season, he played all 82 games, but started just 13.
Last season, after he experienced his first taste of a few starts in the NBA, he was trusted with even more. When Chet Holmgren went down and the team decided to go small often, Wallace was almost always the spot starter. It was a new role for him, being a spot starter, but one that he excelled at.
With the Thunder’s injury-riddled start to the season, and Jalen Williams still sidelined, Wallace has been an every day starter for the first time in his career. He has started all 17 games for the Thunder, and has been a big reason why this team is 16-1 overall. It’s unclear what will happen to the starting lineup when Williams returns, but Wallace now has the experience of being a night-in, night-out starter for the best team in the NBA. And he’d start for nearly every other team on a full-time basis, too.
Wallace has quickly become one of the best defenders in the NBA and is learning how to fill up the stat sheet for the Thunder. He’s averaging 8.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He’s shooting 37% from 3-point range and has become a very reliable corner threat for this team. Wallace is also averaging a career-high 2.4 steals per game, which ranks No. 1 in the NBA for players that have played in more than 10 games.
He’s playing nearly 30 minutes a night, and now understands what life is like as a full-time starter in the NBA. Nearly 20 games under his belt, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s a full-time starter for the majority of the rest of his career.