Cason Wallace is stepping into a bigger role for the OKC Thunder, and the cleanest path to making the most of it is simple: get back to the shooting form he showed early on.
With Lu Dort gone this summer, Wallace is the name everyone is circling as the next starter at the two. That makes sense on paper.
He brings the same kind of defensive bite, relentless hustle and constant energy that have long defined Dort’s value to Oklahoma City. But if Wallace is going to do more than just fill the seat, the Thunder need him to be more than a defensive stand-in.
The opening is there because of what Dort left behind. For much of his time in Oklahoma City, the veteran’s jumper never quite caught up to everything else he brought.
He shot below 35.0 percent from deep in five of his seven seasons and was often just an average catch-and-shoot option. For a Thunder team that regularly lives in the upper half of the league in three-point volume and leaned on the catch-and-shoot game heavily enough to rank eighth in attempts last season, that inconsistency mattered.
Wallace has already shown he can help solve that.
Over his first two seasons with the Thunder, the 2023 lottery pick hit 38.9 percent of his threes and knocked down 40.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts. That kind of efficiency is exactly what this lineup can use from the starting shooting guard spot.
Last season, though, those numbers slid. Wallace finished at 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 35.8 percent on catch-and-shoot threes. That latter mark was only .6 better than Dort’s own rate.
That’s why the next step matters so much. If Wallace gets back to the shooting level he flashed earlier in his career, it would give Oklahoma City a cleaner offensive fit on the wing and strengthen his case for a lucrative new extension with the team. He’s reportedly spent the summer working behind the scenes to sharpen his efficiency on the perimeter and in catch-and-shoot situations.
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