If Kenrich Williams is right, the Oklahoma City Thunder may have found their next big internal surge in Cason Wallace.
A few days before Opening Night, Williams made it clear he sees Wallace as the breakout name in OKC’s lineup heading into the 2026-27 regular season. That would amount to a major Year 4 leap for the 22-year-old, especially with Monday’s NBA contract extension deadline looming and no extension in place yet.
"Out of everybody, I think Caso is going to be the one to make the biggest jump this year. I'm calling it right now," Williams said.
"He's had a great training camp. He's gotten better, stronger and he's always been one of those guys you can count on."
The Thunder are betting on that progression, too. One of the reasons they were comfortable moving on from longtime starter Lu Dort was the belief that Wallace is ready for a bigger role. He has started roughly half of his games over his first three seasons, but that split could change quickly now that OKC has opened the door for him to take on more responsibility on the offensive end.
Wallace has already been part of several deep playoff pushes in Oklahoma City, including one run that ended with an NBA championship. The Thunder are trying to stack another title this season, but doing that while dealing with financial constraints has left them leaning even harder on player development to absorb the rotation minutes lost over the summer.
For Wallace, the next step is pretty straightforward: score more, and shoot it better from deep. He has not averaged double figures in any season so far, and his 3-point shooting has trended downward. If he can turn both of those areas around, it would be a win for him and for the team.
Williams has built a reputation for seeing these things early. He was the one who pegged Jalen Williams as an NBA All-Star during his first training camp, so when he talks up a teammate, it carries some weight.
"Even with his age. He's going to be really good this year.
He's going to help us out a lot this year," Williams said. "Especially having more responsibility."
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Now two seasons in, Mitchells role is only getting more interesting. Oklahoma City expects him to carry more of the offensive load moving forward, which is a pretty strong sign of how far he has come from being a second-round pickup. For a team that builds so much around internal growth, Mitchell has already become the kind of player who can matter far beyond where he was drafted. [Read more 🡒]