2023 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Victor Wembanyama makes surprise team happy
. G, Kentucky. San Antonio Spurs. Cason Wallace. 7. player. 29
The Spurs have stockpiled quality wings: Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan all look like long-term starters. Now it’s time to add the point guard of the future in Cason Wallace, a crafty and well-rounded playmaker who would fit right in with the coaching style of Gregg Popovich.
Wallace joins a long line of extra-coachable Kentucky guards destined for NBA success. It starts with defense. At 6-foot-3, Wallace has the length and intensity to bottle up ball-handlers on the perimeter. He makes the small efforts to win games, laying his body on the line and digging in defensively every night. He will rack up deflections and be a constant thorn in the side of opposing playmakers.
A good (if not great) athlete, Wallace brings plenty of talent to the offensive end as well. He consistently gets downhill and collapses the defense, with a varied in-between game and plenty of pull-up shooting touch to fall back on. He’s not the most explosive finisher at the rim, but his floater makes up for it. He’s also shooting 51.6 percent from 3, a number that should make NBA scouts salivate.
It would be fair to suggest that Wallace lacks the imminent star potential of your prototypical top-10 point guard. He’s not the flashiest athlete or the most impressive shot-maker on the board. What Wallace does have, however, is an efficient approach that elevates those around him and frequently yields positive results on both ends of the court. His high floor should appeal to a franchise like San Antonio.