With all the talent on the Oklahoma City Thunder roster, it’s easy to be overshadowed. That’s been the case for Cason Wallace in some ways, given he’s quietly emerged as one of the most promising young players in the NBA but plays alongside stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

Make no mistake, he’s one of the most important players on the Oklahoma City roster, but he doesn’t get enough credit holistically relative to what he deserves. With that in mind, he will have an opportunity to showcase his talent on the national stage at NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco next month in the Castrol Rising Stars event.

Thanks to a new event format, Wallace will even have a chance to play in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, even though he won’t be voted onto the team.

Just over a month ago, the NBA announced a new format for this season’s All-Star Game, featuring a new wrinkle designed to spark more competitiveness and give rising stars the opportunity to play on the big stage.

For starters, this year’s NBA All-Star Game will feature a three-game mini-tournament with four teams, which is different from past events. To make it even more unique, one of these four teams will be comprised of the players from the winning roster of the Castrol Rising Stars championship game. This is the annual showcase of top first and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts, which will be played just two days before Friday, Feb. 14.

As expected, Wallace earned a spot in this event for the league’s brightest young stars.

Very similar to the NBA All-Star mini-tournament, Castrol Rising Stars is structured in the exact same way. The player pool consists of 10 NBA rookies and 11 NBA sophomores — selected by NBA assistant coaches — along with seven NBA G League players selected by the league office. These 28 players will be drafted onto three seven-player teams on Feb. 4.

With Wallace officially in the pool for this competition, if he can lead his team to a championship in this event, he will have the opportunity to play in the larger marquee event on Sunday night. Each of the standard NBA All-Star teams outside of the Rising Stars group will have eight players comprised of the 24-player pool — with 12 from each conference as voted on in the standard All-Star process.

This means Wallace could play against his teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or even Jalen Williams if he earns a spot as a reserve.

Regardless, even if Wallace’s team doesn’t earn a bid to the NBA All-Star Game, him being considered worthy of playing in the Rising Stars event as a rookie and a sophomore goes to show just how special his trajectory is in the league.

To this point in the 2024-25 campaign, Wallace is averaging 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game while starting in 30 of 44 contests. He’s a critical piece of the Thunder’s success and is considered a cornerstone of the roster.