Oklahoma City Thunder Move Up During Draft, Land Cason Wallace
On Thursday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder gave fans a bit of a surprise by executing a trade with Dallas during the draft, flipping their 12th pick for the Mavericks’ 10th pick to select Cason Wallace, a 6-foot-4 guard hailing from Dallas, Texas.
Wallace, who weighed in at 195 pounds and whose wingspan measured in at almost 6-foot-9, at the combine, was lauded for his elite defensive potential and well-rounded offensive game headed into the 2023 NBA Draft.
His combination of length, strength, and lateral quickness intersects with excellent instincts and a relentless motor was on full display in his freshman year at Kentucky, recording an impressive 3.7 steal percentage and 1.6 block percentage through 32 games.
Offensively, Wallace fits the mold of a lot of recent Thunder draftees, offering promise as a ball-handler, shooter, and playmaker. Don’t let his scoring production in college fool you, however. Although he only scored 11.7 points per game, Wallace is more than capable at doing pretty much everything.
Possessing a dynamic handle, Wallace is more than comfortable going left or right, getting defenders off-balance with hesitation moves, quick crossovers, and even in-and-out dribbles.
He’s also capable of nailing pull-up jumpers from anywhere on the floor, popping up for a quick runner, or sitting back and knocking down 3-pointers off the catch. And when he gets to the hoop, he’s an incredibly strong finisher, showing real ability to contort his body, absorb contact, and score in a myriad of ways.
As a passer, Wallace shines blindingly bright, especially when taking into account his 19.9 percent usage rate at Kentucky. His ability to leverage his gravity as a driver and floor-spacer while also possessing the vision to consistently find open teammates led to a 24.3% assist rate and an impressive 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Given that Wallace is already so skilled and won’t turn 20 until November, expect the Thunder to shoehorn their new investment onto the court right away and strengthen the team's guard rotation. It’s even plausible to think that he could crack the starting lineup from day one; after all, his game is perfectly suited to compliment the team’s main offensive initiators, Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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