How Cason Wallace’s Role Can Grow in Year Three

Oklahoma City’s defensive minded guard, Cason Wallace, was a high quality player from the day he arrived by way of the NBA Draft. Even though the Thunder had a wide variety of guards that could contribute at a high level, Wallace cracked the rotation from the start of the regular season. 

After one season of development in the NBA and with the Thunder’s training staff, Wallace was starting games in the NBA Finals. His clear improvement from an already impressive year one was encouraging to see, and now leaves the question to be asked. What’s the next step in his development?

Wallace has turned into a quality 3-points shooter despite having a minor dip in 2024-25. Over the course of his first two seasons in the NBA, he’s sitting at a 38.9% 3-point mark in 150 total games. During his rookie season, Wallace shot 2.9 triples a game and upped that number to 3.1 a season ago. As Oklahoma City’s young core has taken the next step, the pressure points and areas to improve have been obvious. With players like Jalen Williams and Aaron Wiggins, who were extremely high efficiency but low volume from 3-points range, the coaching staff challenged them to attempt more triples — because it’s a good shot.

With players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, most of these 3-points attempts are clean catch-and-shoot looks, certainly considered a good shot within the Thunder’s offense. In year three, Williams went from 3.4 3-point attempts per game to 4.9. Wiggins jumped from 1.6 attempts to 4.5. Now, Wallace could be ready for the same type of outside shooting jump.

Wallace also showcased major improvement in other areas, too. He became one of the Thunder's most explosive fast break players, rising up and throwing down poster dunks out of thin air. He also became more comfortable in isolation situations, whether it meant getting to the rim or settling for a pull-up jumper.

He's already one of the NBA's best perimeter defenders and continues to add to his offensive game. The sky is the limit for Wallace heading into year three.