Cason Wallace on being extension eligible: “Love the Thunder but I’m more focused on getting better.”
“Get rid of Dort and pay me”
They’re definitely getting rid of Dort
I thought Dort was a great 3nD player. What changed?
His shot was always iffy but once OKC loaded up on guards his volume shrunk. And it’s not easy to shoot a good clip when you’re getting sporadic looks.
Unless you’re AJ Green lol
Aj green couldn’t stop a pylon
You must construct additional pylons
insert “I understood that reference meme” here
this was a great joke
huh
I think some regression; his defense was worse, and his shooting was terrible compared to last year. He was great for OKC, but it is mutually beneficial for the team and Lu if they part ways at this point.
It’s beneficial for OKC for sure, I don’t think it will be beneficial for Dort though
Dort will definitely make more money on an open market. Especially under these new lottery rules. If they decline the club option I think Dort clears $20,000,000 AAV easily
I would be shocked if Lu Dort didn’t make over $20 million in today’s basketball. All defensive first team last year
Yeah he will easily. Especially with the new lottery rules. Bad teams will be using their cap space in FA now instead of absorbing shitty contracts attached to draft capital.
Lu Dort is going to be one of the better FA’s available. He fits into every single team in the NBA and is one of the best PoA defenders in the league.
He would be a great fit next to Luka on the Lakers. Offense & defense, yin & yang.
He won’t make that as a pure defensive player. His 3 is inconsistent and only had one good year from 3.
From who? There’s only 3 teams with cap space and two of them are rebuilding. That leaves the Lakers and idk if they would be excited about Dort being their big offseason splash.
Look at the table for 1st apron space. And we don’t even know who is picking up what club options, or what cuts will be made, trades etc.
Rebuilding teams aren’t looking to be the worst in the NBA anymore. It’s no longer a detriment to have winning players like Dort.
Your own team could be interested in Dort lol you guys have $55 million in first apron space and don’t own your pick next year.
We won’t sign him though. Dort makes the most money by getting his option picked up and traded and then immediately signing an extension.
First apron spade doesn’t mean shit if you’re already over the cap. You can’t sign someone for more than MLE when you’re over the cap. And the MLE is only 15M.
My point is there are a lot of teams under the 1st apron and there will be a lot of opportunities to create space. You can’t just look at the cap sheets before the summer even starts and say oh nobody has money.
Dort would be perfect for the Lakers.
Yes. He would be. But they cleared cap space to get another star player and signing Dort with cap space severely limits their ability to do so.
They cleared cap space to upgrade the roster. I don’t think it’s a given they are going for a big splash.
If you are right then I’ll take it back but I’ll also say good luck to whoever gives him that much money. KCP had a big drop off once he was away from Jokic, I could see the same thing happening to Dort.
How is it beneficial to Dort?
Dang, guess those jokes about him being the #1 pick in the expansion draft weren’t off haha
KD needs to be the #1 pick in the expansion draft to go back to Seattle
His game doesn’t really matter, it was him or Hartenstein that was getting squeezed out to get us under the apron this year, and having a true center is far more important for this team than a defensive wing.
Yall gonna get that big fucker outta Michigan
Shooting fell off a cliff mainly, but I think his defense got exposed by the Spurs. He’s big but not quick at all.
True, he didn’t make another All Defense team, but losing the 3 shot will kill your value
Yeah because the Tony Allen Archetype is mainly gone now, teams already know how to ‘solve’ it.
Can’t really have 0 offense anymore.
he wasn’t bad defensively at all, but he was afraid of the ball on offense at home despite already being a champion so that feels like a big deal when okc has to make some decisions roster wise
He stopped making shots lol
His 3pt % is kinda weird. He will go 1⁄6 or 1⁄4 or something like that then throw in a 6⁄7 on a random occasion
The real reason nobody talks about is that 3nD is a thing of the past. A decade ago Dort might’ve had a pj tucker style career ahead of him but Okc likes their guards to do more than just stand in the corner. Also for as good as an on ball defender Dort is, he’s not some off ball team genius a la draymond is shorter than he plays which is why he isn’t as versatile as it seems it should be
Thunder found defense in Wallace and Caruso who can do more on offense by virtue of having a live dribble. Dort’s very hot-and-cold from 3 and teams just scheme off him. I’m sure the Thunder would love to keep him but they kind of need to shed salary. Personally I think they should bring everyone back for just one year and then shed salary after, give this team another chance at the chip. Unfortunately it’s the Thunder ownership so I highly doubt they’ll spend money
No he wasn’t
Believe he has a team option that could be useful for salary matching purposes if they did decide to make a trade
Dort fucked the Thunder killing his value right before he gets traded
We will
Honestly think he’s better off testing FA. Lots of teams are gonna have cap space next year and Thunder are not gonna want to pay him close to the max
Well, the first half of that is pretty much a done deal. Lu didn’t sign with Klutch this spring with the expectation of being back in OKC on a team-friendly deal.
Just want to correct the false narrative going wild in this thread. Wallace DID start, and played 36 mins this game, more than anyone else but Shai and Caruso. He also played double Dort’s minutes in the past two games as well. He was just invisible for most of it as a role player. People only tend to notice him when he steals or scores 3. Which he did often enough, he had a pretty good game, all things considered. But the main difference is he was the only one who showed that real hot energy when the crunch was on in the 4th. He played well, but was underutilized and so his energy wasn’t able to be infectious. Even still, those steals in the 4 could have easily flipped the game.
He wants a bigger role. Aka starting
As he should. Especially after they brought in McCain. At a certain point you have to show what you have and you can’t do that as the 4th guard.
Could be a NAW situation where if in the right spot he could make a really good run at MIP next year
Are you saying McCain is ahead of him?
No I was counting SGA, JDub and Alex (he is always going to get his minutes). McCain is who he is fighting for minutes with as the 4th guard in the rotation.
Mitchell is ahead of him too
It’s absurd that he wasn’t starting in the first place. Definitely better than Dort
But also shows how stacked and deep OKC is with defenders. There’s a reason they also win the non Shai minutes
Actually, he DID start, and played 36 mins this game, more than anyone else but Shai and Caruso. He played more than Dort and Hart combined, in fact. He was just invisible for most of it as a role player. People only tend to notice him when he steals or scores 3. Which he did often enough, he had a pretty good game, all things considered. But the main difference is he was the only one who showed that real hot energy when the crunch was on in the 4th. He played well, but was underutilized and so his energy wasn’t able to be infectious. Even still, those steals in the 4 could have easily flipped the game.
My personal knock on him, and likely why they started McCain, is he’s somewhat passive as a ball handler, he’s not pressuring the defense or the rim enough.
He was the #1 offender this series of getting inti the paint, seeing Wemby, and just nope-ing out of there and dribbling back to the 3 point line
Y’all kept him in because he was also making a bunch of 3s with the hot hand i think but yeah you’re right, he’s not a big creator of his own shot
He wants more money
That might be a future problem with their depth. OKC is gonna develop these guys but how many can they keep. Their payroll will already be high next season, that is with Wallace, Ajay, and McCain on cheap contracts.
It’s still an advantage because you can always trade them for more picks. Draft well, develop them, trade em for even more picks.
Yea its a good problem to have. Plus all their picks they are loaded.
Yeah guys like Dort, Caruso, Hartenstein will all need to be moved on in the next season or two to open up enough space for these guys to move into - even then there is a bit of a log jam at the guard position with Cason, Ajay, McCain and Topic. We might need to trade one or two of these guys for another wing/forward which I feel like we’re a bit light in.
I’m not too worried since we seem to always hit on at least half of our draft picks and develop really well so by the time guys are wanting to move on or get paid we should have another group of guys ready to step up.
He will be, Dort is outta there
As he should.
Easily a top 5 defender at guard position and good shooter as well
“I’m focused on getting better (paychecks)”
in fairness he follows up and says “i’m not money-driven, i want to compete”
He wants the money.
Can’t blame him either these guys should seek the best earnings possible.
I think he wants a starting role, which will lead to more money of course but he wants more minutes it sounds like
yeah especially with inflation
“I compete at a high level so give me the bag” its ALWAYS about the money
AKA get that bum Lu Dort out of my starting spot.
They’ll get rid of some guys and extend him
Ya he’s still got a year left so he’s here regardless next season. Presti rarely lets players get to the final year of their deal so I expect him to get extended and paid unless he just wants way too much. Wouldn’t be surprised if we move on from Dort and Wallace gets basically the same deal Dort has now and becomes the starter
He’s going to ask for way more. He should ask for way more.
Yeah he’s already 2nd team All Defense, and only 22 years old, and he’s becoming a better shooter. Dort is making \(18m this year and Cason should get \)25m or more, easily
Giddey, Rozier, VanVleet, Simons are all making >= $25m this season and Cason is (arguably) more valuable than them already (again, only 22 years old). If OKC doesn’t give it to him there will be plenty of other teams who will
Dude got dpoy votes and is 22. He is the prototypical 3 and d point of attack player every team wants. I think 25 is the minimum. Especially in a year. I wouldn’t doubt it if he gets closer to 30 like Vassell.
Delusional to think Cason Wallace is on the level of Giddey or VanVleet
Seriously. Great defender, but $25M for a guy scoring 8.5 on bad efficiency isn’t gonna happen
hmm I don’t know man. If you had Wallace and were offered a straight up trade for Giddey, would you do it? I can’t see many teams doing that but maybe some would, who knows
Also VanVleet is 32 years old (10 years older than Wallace) and he’s coming off a major injury. When we’re discussing future value (the point of signing a contract) I don’t know how it can be said that such a guy has more future value than a 22 year old All NBA defender, but it is what it is
Giddey is close to being a player that can average a triple double on a season. He has taken a huge leap. Wallace is a good defender but he hasn’t truly taken that leap into being a great player yet.
Agreed but I think he’s closer than people would think. He balled out for 2 weeks when SGA went down
What you smoking larping Wallace with Giddey and VanVleet. Simons and Rozier are overpaid, that doesn’t mean Wallace should be automaticlly overpaid.
Those guys are overpaid in your estimation but even still that’s a market price that’s been set and AFAIK these contracts are usually negotiated based on market price. Anyways I figure there’s no way Cason signs for less than $20m/year, but we’ll see
I think better contract comp is Dyson
Dort signed that contract back in like 2021 or 2022.
I’d bet a commensurate deal is like 25+ million per. He’ll almost certainly point to Quickley’s 30 million per year contract given their similarities.
Wallace was fantastic. Reminds me a lot of Jrue Holiday
Wallace is worth at least 25 a year. Presti got you thinking in a scam mindset
That’s fair. I still gotta imagine presti will give him that if necessary and move somebody like Joe as well. He’s too valuable to let go unless it’s just impossible
Scam presti will find a way to get him under market value
He gone
Unlikely. More likely that we move on from Dort and sign Wallace to a bigger contract and starting role.
Nearly your entire cap is then SGA/Wallace/Williams/Chet/Hart/Caurso
Is that really a better lineup than this year?
Just due to the assumption that Williams will be healthy yes
You can’t assume that. Hamstrings are tricky, it could plague him for years if he keeps rushing back
True, don’t want him to end up like Luka
Hopefully with an entire offseason of rest/rehab + slow ramp up around training camp to opening night he should be alright. Wasn’t part of the issue with the hammies that he was tryna come back earlier?
Not really, he was cleared multiple times and reaggravated it every time. Usually I wouldn‘t be worried if it‘s a one off but he‘s had his fair share of injury concerns the past year to the point where you have to consider it a bit in terms of his worth
Healthy Jdub and no Dort? Yes that’s better than this year
If Williams is healthy then yeah
A line up that went to the WCF without JDub, yeah I don’t see what’s wrong with keeping that. Plus don’t forget we got AJay on a criminally cheap contract still.
I don’t think it’s possible to end up better with the inflated contracts hitting next year. We just have a lot of smaller contracts this year that kept us well below the cap. Unless Presti decides to move Chet or JDub to free up cap space we have to make tough choices now.
Keeping Wallace and moving Dort along with end of the bench guys like Wiggins and kenrich feels like the best option we have to get under the 2nd apron. I’d still say that’s a better top 6 then a large chunk of the league though. And still have McCain, Mitchell, and Joe behind them along with getting to see what Sorber, Topic and whoever we draft this season can be.
Not having Dort is addition by subtraction
Easy option decline imo. Same with Kenrich. Also I’d strongly consider moving Topic as well if he has any value.
You forget we’ve got Jwill and Mitchell for almost nothing.
Gotta keep in mind that we also have Ajay Mitchell on a cheap contract for a couple more years. JWill is also severely underutilized, and is a great asset still, also with 2 more cheap seasons.
Between Jdub, Chet, Wallace, Mitchell, and JWill all being under 25 and us hopefully getting healthy next year, I fully expect the team to be better next year. Some combination of those guys will continue to improve enough that the net result is they’re better.
Getting out from under Dort’s contract when Wallace is already better and getting more minutes for some of the young guys like Wallace and Mitchell lets us kick the can down the road a couple of years until the really hard choices come up, and the team should theoretically only be getting better between now and then.
Yes
Hegone Wallace
Would be perfect for us. He’s one of the best 3 and D role players in the league.
Essentially 90% + of OKC’s roster could fit perfectly on other teams
It’s gonna be so interesting to see what happens now that JDub, Chet, and SGA take up $150,000,000 of their cap space a year.
Cason Wallace is definitely the biggest priority of guys expiring soon but he’s played himself into $25 M’s a year pretty easily imo
You will receive Dort and like it
Ime Udoka salivating at the idea of adding Dort to the Rockets lmao
No send his ass east
I feel like every half-decent free agent is “perfect for the Lakers” according to the Laker fanbase.
It just really goes to show that basically every team needs the same guys. That’s what is going to make the Lakers’ build-out so difficult… it’s not like they need guys to fill niche roles, but sometimes their fans make it like the Lakers aren’t just targeting the exact same guys every team is after.
I would fit well with Luka and LeBron passing to me
its funny how he was traded for Lively by the Mavs when he got drafted
looking back he’s actually the perfect fit next to Luka
Lively was also the perfect fit next to Luka tbf. A shame we only got to see them play like 50 total games together
God I miss Lively
I’m convinced after he almost single-handedly willed them back in the game yesterday.
He’s a baller. Definitely the most likeable OKC player
Seriously. No drama or controversies around him. Just a baller
Idk man. I feel like Dub and McCain are pretty likeable too
dub pisses me off. idk what it is about him, maybe just that corny energy that shai transported to him or something. i like mccain tho
Really? This type of defense is likable?
https://youtube.com/shorts/yvxA3zRgWpI?si=5K13Kx-1S-fEJcfQ
Every time they took him off the court, I went “whew.”
Pay that man.
This quote is out of context from his whole response lol:
Cason Wallace: “I’m not money driven. I want to compete. That’s the main focus for me. Whether I get paid this summer or not, I’m going to get better. That’s what I have to do to stay in this league.”
Cason Wallace was asked earlier about being contract extension eligibility this summer and how motivated he is to stay a part of the Thunder: “I love the Thunder. But I’m more focused on getting better this summer and going out there and competing next season.”
Per Brandon Rahbar, OKC Thunder Beat Writer
hes gone
Ope
He could honestly get a bag elsewhere
Bro wants to get paid n will . Played well this series n playoffs
He followed up with im about winning not money
Realistically though, even if he isn’t money driven you can’t expect Cason to not advocate for himself for the money he’s rightfully earned. Sure he may decide to negotiate a team friendly deal so that the team has a better chance at staying together, but don’t expect him to sign a minimum contract because he values winning over money. Not going to happen. He should be a core piece in the starting lineup going forward and Presti will pay him accordingly and move on from other players. Cason brings all the positive impacts that Dort does with almost none of the negatives (Dort only chunks 3’s, can’t dribble, gets overly aggressive, often questionable dangerous/dirty players).
my team can make him winning and having big ass money
Dort gone, Cason gone, Caruso old
Lace em up SGA. Time to find out how good of defender you really are
Brooks Barnhizer.
god no
What kind of thunder fan are you to get you to shade your own farm system?
I go to all the G-League games also and Barn isn’t as bad as people think 🤣
Bro gets insane amounts of rebounds for his size and plays with a lot of hustle when needed! From my non-professional opinion, I think his current ceiling though is mid-tier bench defense role player.
Can someone that knows the cap tell me how OKC will try to get under it, or at least pay less? Trade Dort for picks?
Package him with a pick?
I think dort is an 18mm team option (no shot they pick it up) Hart free up another 30mm when he leaves They’ll also want to dump Isiah joe (10mm) And Aaron Wiggins (9mm) Idk who tf kenrich Williams is but he’s also probably not getting a 7mm option picked up
They have a lot of picks to get younger and sign a decently splashy player on top of it. Or bring back Cason but he’ll be more expensive than most expect.
They’re gonna be in cap hell year after when the shai supermax starts up
People I think we are dumping in the off-season. Dort, Wiggs, and maybe Kenny or Joe.
But then on the other flipside we still have Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topic that we need to train up next year. I don’t know if we will move them or what because having a team of 4 or 5 rookies next year would be horrible for our depth.
Yep it’s gonna be a lot of churn especially once McCain and Mitchell are up for extensions to unless he moves one of the max deals to keep depth at some point
IHart (\(28M), Dort (\)18M), Cason Wallace (\(7M), and Kendrick Williams (\)7M), are the guys who are on club options next year and will need to be figured out.
Next season there will be some apron casualties but they’ll look similar to what they have this year. And in 2027-2028 is when the cap hell is really going to kick in.
I’m not really sure that the Thunder seeking trades for these guys is a given. They would have to take back salary, and that’s not necessarily a good thing because they will have to pay Cason a lot. SGA, Chet, and J Dub extensions kick in next year and that’s $150 M’s in space.
Aint nobody trading for dort
Dort’s making 10% of the cap next year on an expiring contract if the Thunder pick up his option
there will be takers
*lakers.
Dort is a good depth bench piece
But he isnt getting paid like one. Youd have to give up picks to get rid of that contract. Hes ass
Hes getting paid like 10% of the salary cap next year lol.
Which is why I think OKC should explore trading him and Dort to the Bucks for Giannis. They’d have to include 3 unprotected firsts, but I think it helps both teams
[removed]
Mark did fucking great. You can quibble with some of his rotations, but both coaches did well. Mark especially did well considering there was no Jdub and his number 2 had the yips from hell.
My only gripe is this Dort/Cason thing. We just could not afford to keep finding ourselves in 10-point holes to start every game.
He talked about how the starting lineup is just the first sub, but does it do the team any good to always be the first one burning a timeout and fighting back from down 10 every game?
I’m scared of this dude last night. Everytime the Spurs were trying to put gap, this dude will have a timely three.
Cason is a solid player. Good 3 pt shooter and great defender for his size
Wallace was the only other guy who wasn’t afraid of the moment, down in the fourth in G7
Breaking: Cason Wallace realizes he plays for a team that actually makes the playoffs, decides to stay.
Breaking: Thunder fans cope
They def need to keep him
He’s really good. He’s either stripping the ball handler or knocking down 3s.
I’d trade Austin Reaves for Wallace straight up
Cason Wallace starter for next year confirmed 🤣
This just means “Get rid of Dort, pay and start me mext season” lol
got a feeling he wants to go to another team and have a bigger role, Cason was balling when he was the main primary creator/PG, you dont ever want to go back after getting that feeling
That’s why it’s tough to keep a good young team together
Guys start wanting to branch out and have a bigger role and there’s not enough spots on that team anymore
Thunder can’t pay everybody
It pretty well understood he will take Dorts starting spot.
You can get better in Milwaukee young fella. Come enjoy the lake effect.
Trade this man to Brooklyn please.
That’s exactly where he needs to be.
Come to the Lakers
He’s outta there. He priced himself out of what the Thunder is willing to give.
He gone to the highest bidder
No way dude, he was so awesome for them this series!
I’m down with signing Caso and trading Austin
He’s my fav OKC player by far.
This guy is deserving of a starting role. He’s capable of so much more, if given an opportunity
Brooklyn Cason Wallace 👀
Isn’t his girl at ucla ?
she got drafted by Toronto 😊
Ballin out too in her rookie year
Sign him, your next Caruso
he’s a difference maker on the court.
Options are get rid of Dort and do their best to keep him and keep Hartenstein or they May have to give up draft pick to get some salary cap relief.
he gone
Cmon over to the Nets Cason we got some cap space for you
I hate how Cason defends. Him and Caruso do so much reaching and hand checking it’s annoying to watch.
Welcome to the second apron OKC.
This might become OKC version of Lakers choosing THJ over Caruso.
come to toronto your girl playing here too
legit sounds like something a 2k generated player would say
No slander to Dort at all, he’s a Thunder legend for life, but we need to prioritize Cason. Dort came in undrafted and had 5+ years to develop into a winning role player. He hit major shots and helped us win our first title. But Cason was a blue chip lottery pick who joined a 1 seed and was expected to fit in and help winning immediately. He has the highest win percentage in NBA history. He made All-Defense from the bench this year, and we really need to invest in his offensive development.
Presti will sell high
Pay the man.
he speaking clippernese baby 🤞🏿
He really means: More focused on getting better MONEY $$$
Lakers please