How Cason Wallace Can Take Next Step for OKC Thunder in Year 3

It's very obvious that the Oklahoma City Thunder have a potential two-way star in the making in former Kentucky guard Cason Wallace. He's gotten significantly better year-to-year in his first two seasons and is now looking to take another jump in his third.

What's led to those season-by-season improvements is simply hard work and a clear increase in effort. When he's on the court, it can be hard to find a player who is working harder than Wallace, on both offense and defense.

That hustle shows up on and off the statsheet. It was the main reason he saw an increase in just about every stat you could name. His points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game and defensive per-game stats all shot up. His shooting splits did see a dip, but that was with more volume.

His efficiency will be the biggest thing he needs to improve on going into next year, despite never being poor. He shot 47.4% from the field and 35.6% from the perimeter last season. His perimeter splits saw a near 6% dip last season, so that will certainly be something he wants to get back up. Getting it around 40% with his same volume would be quite the accomplishment.

The biggest area that will start to separate him from others is his self-creation. He hasn't had to become a huge scorer yet, but if he wants to take another step, he'll have to. It may be hard to hunt down shots given the role and minutes it looks like he will play next season, but he'll have to do that in a smart way if he wants to improve once again.

Nothing is stopping Wallace from becoming a double-digit per-game scorer. He averaged 11.5 per game in the month of April, which was arguably his best stretch of basketball on offense in his short career. He shot 50% from the 3-point line during that stretch, as well.

At least for OKC, nobody is asking Wallace to be an offensive star. If that ever is the case, it may not be for the Thunder. His offensive flashes that he's shown over the last two seasons need to blossom into more than just flashes now, especially if he plans on carving out a larger role for himself.

With all of this in mind, what he brings to the table on defense can't fall off. It improved in his second season, so there's a chance he could do the same thing again, but if he falls off there, a decline in minutes could come knocking.