The OKC Thunder agreed to a five-year, $139 million rookie-scale contract extension with Cason Wallace on Sunday. ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported the news.
Wallace averaged career highs of 8.6 points and 2.6 assists last season on 43.2% shooting from the field (35.1% from deep). He also recorded a league-leading 150 steals and earned an All-Defensive second team selection.
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OKC had until Monday to sign Wallace to a new deal and avoid him hitting restricted free agency next summer. It’s a sign of confidence in the 22-year-old guard, who’ll serve as the Thunder’s top point-of-attack defender now that Lu Dort is gone.
It’s also a sign of commitment from OKC’s ownership group after the team made cost-cutting moves this summer. The Thunder traded Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe in three separate deals for a combined seven second-round picks and didn’t get any players in return. That helped it position itself $6.9 million underneath the second apron with one standard roster spot still open.
OKC will have to continue to pay to keep its championship-caliber team together. The Thunder has team options on Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain and Jaylin Williams for the 2027-28 season. That’s the same time that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s four-year, $285 super maximum contract extension kicks in.
Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Cason Wallace contract extension: OKC Thunder guard agrees to five-year deal, per report