Oklahoma City might not have a permanent starting five, but it has a go-to fifth starter.
Entering the season, there was much discussion about who would fill out the Thunder’s starting five. Alongside the core four, there were a few options, with mostly Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein thrown around.
With Hartenstein’s preseason injury and Chet Holmgren’s mid-November injury, there has been no opportunity to employ the double-big lineup, and Caruso has yet to make a start. Instead, that final spot has been claimed by Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins throughout the year.
While Wallace started only four of the team’s first 11 games and saw spotty starts during the first month, he has been a mainstay in the starting five since late November. Over his past 17 games, Wallace has started 14, and his playing time continues to increase.
Over the past six contests, Wallace has registered at least 30 minutes five times, compared to only seven occurrences in the first 29 games.
This season, Wallace has averaged 6.9 points, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks in 27.1 minutes per game. While he is only shooting 31.8% from 3-point range, his outside shooting has improved over the past few weeks, making 37.7% of his shots beyond the arc since the start of December, including a 3-of-3 performance in Cleveland on Wednesday.
The other starting options throughout the season, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, are far different from Wallace, which has helped the second-year guard separate himself. Joe and Wiggins are both offensive-minded players, meaning if shots don’t fall, the Thunder won’t be getting anything close to the best version of those guys.
However, Wallace’s defense has set him apart since entering the league, and coach Mark Daigneault never has to be concerned about his intensity on that end. Despite being a solid offensive player, Wallace’s impressive defense makes his scoring and playmaking an added bonus.
As long as Wallace can continue to perform at this level, there is no reason to believe he will be out of the starting lineup in many contests moving forward.
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