Hats off to Cason Wallace. The 10th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft got a well-earned payday late last night, when ESPN’s resident NBA insider Shams Charania announced on X that the Oklahoma City Thunder had agreed to a five-year, $139 million rookie-scale extension with the feisty combo guard.
That works out to roughly $27.8 million per year — which could be interpreted as a tad bit expensive by some. But anyone who’s become a fan of watching Cason Wallace (much like myself) knows he’s far more impactful than his stats might suggest.
Across his first three NBA seasons, Wallace has averaged 7.9 points on 46.3% shooting from the field and 37.4% from deep, along with 2.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals.. He’s also been largely healthy throughout his pro career: Wallace played all 82 games as a rookie, appeared in 68 games in his second season, and was available for 77 last season.
His stout defense has been one of his calling cards since entering the league. And last season, after leading the league in total steals and deflections, it earned him a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team alongside the Raptors’ own defensive ace, Scottie Barnes.
Which brings me to the point of this piece — and an unfortunate tale I find myself revisiting whenever a guard of similar (or better) stature lands a new deal: the Raptors–Immanuel Quickley extension (five-year, $175 million agreement in 2024). I know it might sound harsh and repetitive to keep looking back at that deal, but it’s hard to ignore the facts surrounding Toronto’s abrupt decision — especially with the benefit of hindsight. Even with flashes of renewed IQ brilliance, it still looks like a deal that hasn’t worked all that high in the Raptors’ favor.
How does Immanuel Quickley’s value stack up against Cason Wallace’s?
From a fit and upside standpoint, Cason Wallace is undoubtedly a Raptors-coded archetype and a typical front-office darling. In fact, had the Raptors gotten a bit lucky with the draft-night slide in 2023, I was hoping Wallace might fall into their hands. He was one of my consensus top picks in their range and looked like a seamless fit.
Even with Quickley’s polarizing reputation, I’d still say he holds a different value advantage over Wallace, simply because he’s more of a volume shooter right now. Wallace has averaged 3.2 three-point attempts per game over his career, with last season marking a peak of 3.7 — a number that will likely rise in the coming seasons.
Quickley, meanwhile, has made letting the rock fly from deep more of his specialty, averaging 5.8 attempts per game. During his time with the Raptors, being one of the team’s key threats from deep has been a major part of IQ’s role — and a key expectation for the hopeful core moving forward, especially with Kawhi Leonard now in the picture.
IQ has hovered around seven attempts per game for much of that stretch: 7.1 in the 38-game sample after the NY trade, followed by 6.8 in each of the last two full seasons. And while Wallace, like IQ, doesn’t exactly fit the standard point guard archetype (both are combo guards, or more shooting guard-suited) — I’d argue Wallace is probably seen as more valuable to an NBA team even if he isn’t as hot a shooter. That comes down to his winning intangibles and skills, which, in IQ’s case, either aren’t in the cards to ever reach that level or are still a work-in-progress.
Don't get me wrong, Wallace is far from a flawless or finished product. But when you consider his fit, the value he likely would’ve had on the open market with rival teams fighting to add him, and what he brings as a contributor — it’s clear to see why his value eclipses Immanuel Quickley’s.
Instead, the Raptors are left hoping IQ can provide the consistent hot shooting they need while adjusting to the important point guard role he’s been pushed into with the starting unit. That’s a lot of uncertainty, especially for a Raptors roster already dealing with limited depth at that spot (a sneaky riser like Alijah Martin may be changing that narrative, though).
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