<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/thunder-biggest-concern-cason-wallace-2023-nba-summer-league-performance');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s biggest concern about Cason Wallace after 2023 NBA Summer League performance');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Thunder_s_biggest_concern_about_Cason_Wallace_after_2023_NBA_Summer_League_performance.jpeg"></figure><h1>Thunder’s biggest concern about Cason Wallace after 2023 NBA Summer League performance</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-17T15:44:24-07:00">July 17th, 3:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-17T15:44:24-07:00">July 17th, 3:44pm</time><address><a>Mike Cruz</a>Mike Cruz is an editorial writer at ClutchPoints, primarily covering the NBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Cason Wallace’s first taste of professional basketball during the 2023 NBA Summer League is finally in the books. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-summer-league-cason-wallace-reactions-vegas-opener" rel="noopener">Thunder fans finally</a> witnessed a two-week snippet of the 10th overall pick that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-news-thunder-trade-mavs-select-cason-wallace" rel="noopener">Oklahoma City traded up</a> for in the NBA Draft.</p><p>Wallace’s Summer League stint started off on a high note. He scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and drained six three-pointers in the 91-80 win over the Dallas Mavericks. His fortunes, however, turned the very next game as Wallace went just 2-of-12 from the field (1-of-8 from three) en route to an eight-point performance. The struggles continued from there as he scored just four points on 2-of-7 shooting in his third game. He scored 10 points in the next game and closed his Vegas trip with a 13-point game in a 98-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.</p><p>Overall, Wallace averaged 11.0 points in Summer League and shot 34.6 percent from the field. He did shoot 38.7 percent from beyond the arc. Oklahoma City drafted Wallace mainly because of his defense. But as he showed in his first game, he is capable of putting up a good scoring game once in a while.</p><p>Unfortunately, offensive inconsistency may be the Thunder’s biggest concern about Cason Wallace after the 2023 NBA Summer League.</p><h2><b>Inconsistency on offense</b></h2><p>Cason Wallace could not have asked for a better start to his professional career. The kid dropped 20 points and was pretty much on fire from beyond the arc to open his Summer League stint. He made five three-pointers in the first half, most of which were wide open catch-and-shoot looks. His sixth triple was a <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1677785172555747328" rel="noopener">shot clock buzzer beating</a> half court heave during the third quarter. Wallace was simply feeling it in that game.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Cason Wallace is MONEY from 45-feet at the shot clock buzzer 🔥</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomerAzarly</a>) <a href="https://t.co/Qx1DtDGTWz">pic.twitter.com/Qx1DtDGTWz</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1677785172555747328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Unfortunately, it went all downhill from there. Wallace’s offensive limitations became evident through his last four games in Summer League. Taking away his performance in the first game, Wallace’s shooting numbers read as such: 29.7 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent shooting from beyond the three-point arc.</p><p>Those are certainly paltry and concerning shooting numbers if you are Oklahoma City. It’s hard to determine whether his nightly performances will be closer to the 20-point 7-of-15 shooting night he had in OKC’s opener. Were the last four games going to be the norm for him?</p><p>While he did struggle mightily in the succeeding two games after his debut, his last two games suggested he settled down a bit. He averaged 11.5 points in those two games, and shot close to 39 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. He isn’t going to shoot that clip from three all season, but if he is able to duplicate his percentages in college (<a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/cason-wallace-1.html">44.6 percent FG</a> and 34.6 percent 3P), he should be in good shape in his rookie campaign. All the Thunder will need from him anyway is to be a spot-up option from long distance.</p><p>Nonetheless, the Thunder didn’t really target the Kentucky standout to be a major contributor on offense. Wallace’s calling card was always on the defensive end. Wallace may very well end up becoming Oklahoma City’s version of Davion Mitchell from the Sacramento Kings. Like Mitchell, Wallace is a pest on defense. The Thunder will likely use him as their top point of attack defender to bother the opposing team’s best guard.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s biggest concern about Cason Wallace after 2023 NBA Summer League performance

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/thunder-summer-league-cason-wallace-reactions-vegas-opener');   ga('set', 'title', '3 Cason Wallace reactions from Thunder Vegas Summer League opener');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Thunder-Summer-League-X-Cason-Wallace-reactions-from-Vegas-opener.jpeg"></figure><h1>3 Cason Wallace reactions from Thunder Vegas Summer League opener</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-10T09:04:03-07:00">July 10th, 9:04am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-10T09:04:03-07:00">July 10th, 9:04am</time><address><a>Tim Crean</a>Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined ClutchPoints in 2022. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL, NBA, soccer, sports media, and more. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie, it is a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York and when he’s not enjoying a round of golf he's probably coaching youth soccer or flag football. You can catch all of his sports-related musings on Twitter at @twcrean.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>NBA Summer League has now started, which means the Oklahoma City Thunder <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-2023-nba-draft-class" rel="noopener">No. 10 overall pick</a> in the 2023 NBA Draft, former Kentucky guard Cason Wallace, made his Thunder debut in Las Vegas. The Thunder took on the Dallas Mavericks and won 91-80, but that doesn’t tell the full story of Wallace’s first impressions. To do that, here are three reactions to the rookie’s debuts at Thunder Summer League.</p><h2><b>3. Cason Wallace wowed NBA Summer League in his 27-minute debut</b></h2><p>The Thunder <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-draft-news-thunder-trade-mavs-select-cason-wallace" rel="noopener">traded up two spots</a>, taking on the Mavs’ bad Davis Bertans contract to do so. In that spot, they took former Kentucky freshman guard Cason Wallace at No. 10. In a vacuum, most experts liked the pick because of Wallace’s talent.</p><p>However, adding the 6-foot-2 guard to a backcourt that already includes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, and Tre Mann is an interesting fit.</p><p>What the team liked about Wallace is his defense is on par with a player like Dort, while his offense has the potential to grow into and fit well with players like Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey.</p><p>In Wallace’s Thunder Summer League debut, the young guard showed what he could do on both sides of the ball, and that quickly made many doubters reconsider their stance.</p><p>The final Cason Wallace <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba-summer-league/boxscore/_/gameId/401558316/league/nba-summer-las-vegas" rel="noopener">stat line</a> for the Thunder rookie was 27 minutes played, a game-leading 20 points, 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 6-of-10 from 3-point range, two assists, two steals, and two turnovers.</p><p>Wallace filled up the box score in a way that the Thunder hoped he could, and in the process, drew two more reactions on either side of the ball.</p><h2><b>2. The guard looked locked in on defense</b></h2><p>One of the reasons that Cason Wallace got drafted by the Thunder was for his defense. The former Wildcat is small for an NBA guard, but he is a tenacious defender who can get inside guard’s pockets. He led his team with 2.0 steals per game last season and finished first in defensive box plus/minus (4.2) and second in defensive win shares (1.6).</p><p>In his first NBA Summer League contest, Wallace showed his defensive chops. In addition to his two steals, Wallace was locked in all game, and if you watched him closely, you’d see what he provides on that side of the ball.</p><p>His on-ball defense was solid, as he stayed in front of his opposite number all night. He also rotated well in help defense, prowled the passing lanes for steals, and fought through screens in the pick-and-roll. That’s everything you want to see from a young defender at guard.</p><p>There will be some bigger guards in this league who punish Wallace for his size. But next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, and Jalen Williams — who are all 6-foot-6 or taller — some of that burden will come off Wallace.</p><p>So, one of Wallace’s biggest talents showed up in his Thunder Summer League debut. But it was his offensive skills that really turned heads.</p><h2>1. Wallace can shoot!</h2><p>Before Cason Wallace got to the Thunder he was a solid offensive player at Kentucky. In his lone season in Lexington, the guard averaged 11.7 points, 4.2 assists, and shot 34.6% from three, 51.4% from two, and 75.7% from the line.</p><p>The 2-point percentage is especially encouraging because Wallace is going into the lane for layups at a six-plus-inch disadvantage most times, and he takes a decent amount of mid-range shots. The fact he’s over 50% there was encouraging. Also, 34.6% from behind the arc isn’t bad in college, but to be a truly effective NBA weapon, he’d need to get that closer to 37% at the next level.</p><p>Well, in his Thunders Summer League debut in Las Vegas, Wallace hit six 3-pointers at a 60% clip. Obviously, that percentage isn’t going to last. But knocking down six triples to lead all scorers with 20 points was still incredibly impressive.</p><p>With so many guards in the Thunder backcourt, Wallace is going to have to spend some (or maybe lots of) time being a spot-up shooter for the team in order to earn playing time. And if he keeps hitting his open shots like he did against the Mavs, that playing time could come in bigger chunks than some Thunder fans suspect.</p><p>The Thunder wanted Cason Wallace badly in the 2023 NBA Draft, and they traded up to get him. Their vision was a 3-and-D guard who would fit seamlessly in their guard rotation. It’s still incredibly early in Wallace’s career and way too soon to make any major proclamations.</p><p>Still, after that debut, Oklahoma City and its fans can’t help but smile.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
6.8	3.6	2.3	0.8	1.6

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
6.8	3.6	2.3	0.8	1.6

Cason Wallace news

Cason
Wallace news