Every team in the league could use a scrappy player like Alex Caruso.
After the Lakers totally low-balled Caruso despite his influential role in the franchise winning an NBA championship in 2020, the former undrafted free agent has found a solid home as a defensive ace for the Chicago Bulls.
Now widely known as one of the most positively impactful perimeter defenders in the league, it makes sense why other teams may cover his services.
He leads the league in the catch-all metric defensive RAPTOR, per FiveThirtyEight. He also ranks second-best in the catch-all metric defensive estimated plus-minus, per Dunksandthrees.com.
Will the Bulls trade any of their Big 3?
Will the Bulls trade Alex Caruso?
What does K.C. stand for?
Only the most important questions are answered by @KCJHoop in this edition of his Bulls mailbag: https://t.co/7CjtsuGZ4r
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) January 27, 2023
The Bulls have failed to live up to preseason expectations, however, and may try to trade Caruso for some future assets. According to K.C. Johnson, he has multiple interested suitors (via NBC Sports):
“The vultures are circling. Multiple teams have inquired about Alex Caruso, per sources. The Knicks have scouted Caruso of late and own first-round picks that could be dangled with a contract like Obi Toppin if the Bulls show any inclination of trading their defensive ace. The Golden State Warriors also are cited by league sources as a potential suitor.”
The Knicks would make sense for Caruso — he would be an ideal fit for hard-nosed head coach Tom Thibodeau, who preaches defensive tenacity.
"I'd love to have you, man"
Steve Kerr to Alex Caruso after last night's game 😳pic.twitter.com/Ueb8uS2gJJ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 3, 2022
Golden State’s interest makes a ton of sense, too. Lip-readers also believe they caught Warriors head coach Steve Kerr telling Caruso “I’d love to have you, man!” after a game last month.
Caruso would be an awesome fit for the defending champions in Golden State, and maybe the Bulls might be interested in trying to revive the career of James Wiseman.
But as noted by veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein and Yahoo’s Jake Fischer, the price for Caruso is not cheap (via Substack):
“My pal Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports, on his Please Don’t Aggregate This live audio show on Callin, said he’s heard rumbles about the Bulls wanting two future first-round picks to part with Alex Caruso. There is still time, of course, for prices to come down, but the emergence of sellers as this deadline has been, well, deliberate.”
Caruso is a wonderful player who can help a franchise in its quest to win a championship.
Maybe the Thunder or Pelicans, who are exceeding expectations and have more first-round picks to spare than most, could afford to surrender multiple in a deal. But otherwise, he simply isn’t worth multiple first-round picks.
The reason why is fairly simple. New York has enough future first-round picks to eventually land the next disgruntled star. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if they moved off one of them to bring Caruso into the mix, and The Bald Eagle would likely become a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden.
But if they moved multiple first-round picks, it could take them out of the running to land a future star to be named later. Caruso is a star in his role, without a doubt, but he’s never going to be the primary option in an offense or the face of a franchise.
Caruso deserves to play for a contender and the Bulls are certainly not that. The front office, however, should set more realistic expectations for his trade value.
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