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Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault had a unique player comparison for Kentucky freshman guard Cason Wallace. He compared him to former NFL Hall of Fame defensive back Ed Reed.

Reed was a defensive ball hawk, and that stood out to the Thunder coach as he evaluated Wallace before he was the 10th pick in the draft.

“He’s just got a beat on the ball. He’s got great discipline. He’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s not reckless,” Daigneault said. “He’s not doing his own thing, but when he smells the ball, he’s a hawk on the ball.

“He played football coming up, and he looks like a free safety out there.”

Thunder executive vice president Sam Presti also liked Wallace’s defensive tenacity.

“Cason is a quintessential two-way player, somebody that we are really excited to have,” Presti said at Wallace’s introductory press conference. “He plays no-agenda basketball, and that’s one of the things that really attracted us to him.

“This guy got drafted in the Top 10 by just being an incredible team player, a guy that makes the right play all the time, and I think that’s a great lesson for a lot of young players out there.”

ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said not to discount Wallace’s offensive skills because he is a great defender.

“He’s good off the ball, he is excellent on the ball and he can play the point (and) off-guard,” Bilas said during the draft. “He’s a good shooter, a good shooter in the mid-range, he can knock it down from three and he’s just got a very steady game.

“I think he’s a big-time player. Is he the type of guy that’s going to go out and get you 40 in a game or be spectacular in one area of the game? I wouldn’t say so. He’s just really good in every aspect of the game. He’s a winner and a leader.

The Thunder will have summer league games in Las Vegas July 7-17 and Wallace said it did not take long to know he was glad to be part of this team.

“Being on the outside looking in, you can see how much the players enjoy being here,” Wallace said. “On the court, they are always having fun. They look like they are free. They are out there and they all look like they’re together.”

Wallace credited Kentucky coach John Calipari for giving him the freedom to improve like he has other UK guards before him who are now succeeding in the NBA.

“On the court, Cal puts us in good situations to display what we’re good at. If it’s something we’re not so good at, he tells us to try to stay away from it, but he still gives us the freedom to display who we are,” Wallace said. “Off of the court, we have a great medical team, a great team to help us talk to media, so I feel like they set us up with a pretty good platform.”