This NBA season, rookies like Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, and Ausar Thompson are dominating the headlines. New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins has been a dark horse conversation topic, but one player who doesn’t receive much widespread recognition is Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace, who’s the most poised of them all.
No, Cason doesn’t boast any eye-popping stats outside of his shooting percentage, but if you’ve watched more than three Thunder games this season, you know what I’m talking about.
In less than 20 games, Wallace has proved to be OKC’s equilibrium. No, he’s not the emotional leader––that’s Kenrich Williams. He’s not the overall leader of the team––that’s either Lu Dort or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Wallace is responsible for keeping the Thunder even-killed. When he’s in the game, things don’t tend to get very chaotic, and occasionally, when things do get hectic, Wallace never seems to let it frazzle him to the point that it affects his game.
Let’s rewind to Wallace’s return to his hometown, Dallas, Saturday, where he dropped 15 points and 6 rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting. Following an evenly-matched first quarter where OKC led 33-27, per usual, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault started the second quarter with his reserves. He rolled an interesting lineup of Jalen Williams, Jaylin Williams, Davis Bertans, Aaron Wiggins, and Wallace, outscoring Dallas 22-12, giving them a 17-point lead when the starters checked back into the game.
Who initiated that run? Wallace. He only scored 1 point during that stretch to start the fourth, but his defense created a plethora of opportunities for the Thunder to capitalize on. His decisive and collected decisions with the ball in his hands served the Thunder well.
When the suspense rose in the middle of a 30-0 run, Wallace didn’t panic and it’s been like that all season. He keeps playing his game and urges his teammates to do the same. That served the Thunder well on Saturday by answering the Mavericks’ 30-0 run with a 15-3 run to still win the game by 6 points.
