In early August, three journalists from The Athletic took part in a “21 and under” project in which the trio selected teams of NBA players aged 21 or younger.
In the exercise, a player from the Oklahoma City Thunder roster was selected, a 20-year-old guard Cason Wallace.
A Kentucky product, Wallace was selected 10th overall in the 2023 NBA draft and earned All-Rookie honors after averaging 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in his first year as a professional.
Despite his young age, Wallace shot 49.1 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three-point range on nearly three three-point attempts per game. With strong passing, ball-handling and perimeter shooting skills, along with elite defensive ability, the former Wildcats standout was a natural fit for Mark Daigneault system.
After an impressive rookie year that saw Wallace play a key role for Oklahoma City, the talented guard appears poised to take on an even bigger workload in 2024-25, especially with Josh Giddey is no longer part of the workforce.
“I’d take the rookie who played a significant number of minutes on the Western Conference’s best regular-season team,” James Edwards wrote for The Athletic. “He’s a good edge defender who was an efficient low-volume scorer last season. Wallace strikes me as a player who will always have an impact on winning. I’ll always fight for those types of players.”
Wallace was the first pick of the seventh round of the draft and the 19th overall pick.
Five picks ahead of Wallace, Will Guillory selected Giddey, a former Thunder guard and lottery pick who was teammates with Wallace in 2023-24.
After being benched in the Western Conference semifinals in place of Isaiah Joe, Sam Presti and OKC management traded Giddey to the Bulls in exchange for a two-time All-Defense Alex Caruso.
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