NBA All-Star Weekend: Cason Wallace Discusses Draft Positioning and Advantages of Quality Landing Spot

When players enter the NBA Draft, the goal is always to be drafted as high as possible. Although being selected in any capacity is a tremendous success and a dream come true for these athletes, the reality is that the higher a player is drafted, the more lucrative their rookie contract and the bigger that success feels.

With that in mind, landing in the right situation can ultimately make or break a player's success in their first few seasons, and whether or not they get a second contract in the NBA at all. Playing for a team that develops the athlete the right way and provides ample opportunities is extremely important.

Furthermore, there's never a clear linear trend in any draft between success in the NBA and draft position. In general, the players taken early in the draft historically have a higher rate of success than those taken later in the process. However, there are plenty of players taken in the lottery who never end up even being a rotation player. There are also prospects drafted late in the first round or even the second who end up being phenomenal players. Much of this could be due to development, situation and team fit.

This is a concept that Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Cason Wallace discussed briefly at NBA All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis following his debut in the Rising Stars Challenge. The Kentucky product was talking about advice he would give to the next wave of draftees that will enter the NBA next season.

“Don’t worry about your situation and somebody else’s situation," Wallace said. "There a lot of players that were drafted high on not so good teams. And some that weren’t drafted as high but are on winning teams and great organizations. Don’t look at everybody else’s path.”

At the end of the day — especially for players with the upside to be taken in the first round — landing on a team that fits is much more important than actual draft positioning. This was the case for Wallace, who was taken No. 10 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. If he had gone any earlier than that, he would have almost certainly been on a rebuilding team right now, or in a situation in which he can't be the best version of himself. 

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