Cason Wallace may be on the verge of putting his name in Oklahoma City Thunder history next season.
With Lu Dort now in Atlanta, the Thunder’s starting five is set to look different in the 2026-27 season, and that change could open the door for Wallace to move into Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s backcourt partner spot. Oklahoma City is losing an All-Defensive starting wing, but it has another All-Defensive defender ready to slide into that role.
That matters because Wallace already showed what he can do in year three. He led the NBA in total steals last season with 150, and that total already sits fifth in Thunder history. Only Paul George and Russell Westbrook have put up more steals in a season for Oklahoma City, with two seasons apiece ahead of him on the list.
The mountain at the top is steep. George’s 2018-19 campaign, when he was a finalist for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, remains the Thunder standard with 170 steals. Wallace does not need to blow past that number by a mile, but he has a real shot at chasing it down in 2027.
The key is that his role should get more demanding, not necessarily much bigger in terms of minutes. Wallace averaged 26.6 minutes per game last season, and he already started 58 of his 77 appearances while operating in Mark Daigneault’s deep rotation. A full-time starting job may not change his workload much.
What should change is the kind of possessions he sees. As the primary perimeter defender next season, Wallace figures to draw more of the league’s best ball-handlers, which should give him more chances to use those quick hands and create turnovers for Oklahoma City.
He’s already shown he can ramp up when the moment asks for it. In the 2026 playoffs, as Dort’s role shrank, Wallace bumped his steals per game from 1.9 in the regular season to 2.1 across 15 playoff games, even while playing fewer minutes per game.
That playoff pace would translate to roughly 172 steals over a full 82-game season. Add in the reality of a few missed games and a steadier role as the Thunder’s top perimeter stopper, and the record is within reach. It will still be close, but Wallace has improved every year, and another 20 steals does not feel out of the question.
In Other News...
Ajay Mitchell Just Changed His Place In The Thunders Future
Ajay Mitchells rise over the 2025-26 season gave the Thunder another young piece worth taking seriously, and it came at exactly the right time for a team trying to keep its future window wide open. What started as a promising run of minutes turned into a breakout stretch, with Mitchell showing he could help on both ends and grow into a far more meaningful part of Oklahoma Citys rotation than most expected.
For a Thunder team built around long-term flexibility and internal development, Mitchells emergence changes the conversation around what comes next. He was not just along for the ride during the playoff push, but a real contributor whose growth made him harder to ignore in future planning. The bigger question now is how far that leap can carry him, and how much more the Thunder can count on him as the roster keeps evolving. [Read more 🡒]
Ajay Mitchells Next Leap Could Force A Tough Thunder Decision
The Thunder spent the summer reshaping their payroll, trimming the luxury-tax bill by moving Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe, but the bigger squeeze may come later if Ajay Mitchell keeps rising. After a strong sophomore season in which he boosted his scoring and carved out a meaningful playoff role, Mitchell has gone from promising depth piece to one of the more important names in Oklahoma Citys long-term planning.
Thats where the next layer of tension starts to matter for a front office that already has future extension decisions looming. Mitchell, Jared McCain and possibly Cason Wallace are all part of the cap puzzle ahead, and the Thunder will have to balance present value against future cost if Mitchells game keeps trending up. His development already has him on a better financial track than he was a year ago, and one more leap could make the eventual conversation a lot more complicated for a team that has tried hard to stay ahead of its own success. [Read more 🡒]
Lu Dorts Thunder Goodbye Says Everything About The NBAs New Reality
The Thunders offseason has carried the kind of roster churn that comes with a league still adjusting to the NBAs new collective bargaining agreement, and Lu Dorts exit is a reminder that even familiar names are not immune to the reshaping of team-building rules. Oklahoma City has had to navigate those realities while making its own changes, part of a wider shift across the league as front offices weigh flexibility, cost and continuity in a different way than they did before the 2024 CBA took hold.
Dorts trade to the Hawks added a personal layer to that bigger picture, especially after he posted a farewell video reflecting on his time in Oklahoma City. For Thunder fans, it was a goodbye that felt bigger than one player moving on, because it underscored how the new era can alter the bond between a franchise and the pieces that helped define it. The Thunder are hardly alone in dealing with those pressures, but Dorts exit made the stakes a little more visible. [Read more 🡒]