{"id":128934,"date":"2025-03-16T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=128934"},"modified":"2025-03-16T09:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T13:00:10","slug":"thunder-shai-gilgeous-alexander-compares-cason-wallace-jrue-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/16\/thunder-shai-gilgeous-alexander-compares-cason-wallace-jrue-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder\u2019s MVP Candidate Compares Draft Pick To NBA Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma City Thunder aren\u2019t the top team in the Western Conference just because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> is having another MVP-level season<\/a>. The coaching of Mark Daigneault isn\u2019t necessarily their secret sauce either, though if certainly helps. Ultimately, what\u2019s set Oklahoma City apart from most franchises is that they\u2019ve drafted extremely well in general.<\/p>\n

Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Compares Cason Wallace To Jrue Holiday<\/h2>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander is the head of the snake, without a doubt. However, a snake\u2019s body has up to 1,800 bones and that\u2019s what the Thunder\u2019s other guys<\/em> represent.<\/p>\n

Jalen Williams<\/a> and Chet Holmgren<\/a> \u2014drafted 12th and second overall in 2022 \u2014are star-caliber players who are high on OKC\u2019s totem pole. Aaron Wiggins<\/a>, who they drafted 55th overall in 2021, has had multiple head-turning performances. Jaylin Williams<\/a>, the 34th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has started to come on strong. 2024 No. 38 pick Ajay Mitchell<\/a> stood out.<\/p>\n

Yet, it\u2019s Cason Wallace<\/a> who has the best record for a starter (39-12) in NBA history<\/a>. Drafted 10th overall pick in 2023, Wallace\u2019s game is understated, so he flies under the radar. However, he\u2019s still one of the most effective two-way players in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has tools to be a Jrue Holiday,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander says of Wallace (h\/t Joel Lorenzi of Oklahoman Sports), \u201cthat type of All-Star<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two Peas In A Pod?<\/h3>\n

Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday<\/a> is highly valued by his teammates and coaches because of his incredible basketball IQ, pressure at the point of attack, and scoring efficiency. When he was with the New Orleans Pelicans, Holiday took on more of a scoring role. However, the six-time All-Defensive selection\u2019s specialty is at the other end.<\/p>\n

That aligns well with Wallace\u2019s scouting report.<\/p>\n

With the Thunder, the Dallas native hasn\u2019t had many high-volume scoring performances. Yet, he\u2019s still shooting 47.4 percent from the floor for his career. While largely used in a spot-up role, he\u2019s crafty enough to get to the rim as well, on or off-ball. What\u2019s most important about Wallace being on the court though?<\/p>\n

His defense.<\/p>\n

A Cornerstone Player<\/h3>\n

OKC does have multiple veterans who are excel or are elite defensively.<\/p>\n

Lu Dort<\/a>. Alex Caruso<\/a>. Even Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a> has built a solid reputation.<\/p>\n

Wallace might be the best one day. His technique can be taught. His activity level and innate instincts can\u2019t. A disruptive perimeter defender with great hands, he\u2019s averaging 1.7 steals per game in his young career.<\/p>\n

In a league that\u2019s dominated by guards who can light up the scoreboard, that\u2019s huge for the Thunder. For a young team that can use Wallace\u2019s event creation to get out in transition, it\u2019s even better. Honestly, he\u2019s already looking like a cornerstone player, particularly with his age (21).<\/p>\n

If so, it isn\u2019t hard to see him winning at least one ring. That\u2019s another similarity he could share with Holiday. That being said, on a team ranking in the top-five in offensive (119.7) and defensive rating (107.2) this season, Oklahoma City has a real chance to make a run to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma City Thunder aren\u2019t the top team in the Western Conference just because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having another MVP-level season. The coaching of Mark Daigneault isn\u2019t necessarily their secret sauce either, though if certainly helps. Ultimately, what\u2019s set Oklahoma City apart from most franchises is that they\u2019ve drafted extremely well in general. Thunder\u2019s Shai […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":128966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1608,62,556],"tags":[4776,239,98,1489],"class_list":["post-128934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thunder","category-basketball","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-cason-wallace","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-nba-draft","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128934"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128967,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128934\/revisions\/128967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}