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Could OKC Thunder Guard Cason Wallace Earn All-Defense Honors this Year?
The Oklahoma City Thunder have a handful of impressive defenders on the roster.
In 2024-25, Lu Dort earned First-Team All-Defense honors, while All-Star wing Jalen Williams was named Second-Team All-Defense. Alongside the aforementioned duo, Alex Caruso has also been an All-Defense honoree during his NBA career.
That trio forms an impressive group of wing defenders for OKC, which was one of the main catalysts in the team's first-ever title run last season. Alongside Chet Holmgren, who has All-Defense potential if he can meet the NBA's minimum games played threshold, the Thunder boast a formidable defense.
Another player who has added to those defensive efforts is Cason Wallace. During his first two seasons with the Thunder, Wallace was viewed as another helpful defender alongside an impressive cast.
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How Thunder's Alex Caruso, Lu Dort have turned Cason Wallace into a true defensive monster
How Thunder veterans Lu Dort and Alex Caruso have had an impact on Cason Wallace's impressive start to 2025-26.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace's five steals in Sunday's 137-106 win against the New Orleans Pelicans evoked a question coach Mark Daigneault couldn't answer before citing Lu Dort and Alex Caruso. For a third-year guard who averaged 1.8 steals per game last season, it's elite company to be around amid the defending champion Thunder's 7-0 start to the regular season.
As far as finding out what Wallace did during the offseason that's led to him averaging 9.0 points and 3.0 steals six games into the 2025-26 campaign, Daigneault said, ask Cason. However, from the Thunder's head coach's point of view, experience gained by being around Dort and Caruso over the past year has yielded an impressive start.