Alex Caruso knows how to maneuver through the drama of a soap opera.
Spending four seasons in Hollywood and playing for the Lakers taught him well.
So while the Bulls guard is always about team first, the reports of teammate Zach LaVine and his representation open to jumping ship and going elsewhere – reports that LaVine hasn’t exactly denied – didn’t in the least bit faze Caruso.
“I don’t know if that’s necessarily the narrative about him not caring for us and not wanting to be here,’’ Caruso said when talking about the locker room reaction to the news surrounding LaVine. “The reports are the reports, and that’s kind of the NBA drama rumor mill that goes on every year and seems to follow the best players in the league wherever they go.
“For us it’s more focus on doing our jobs and trying to come out and play, and obviously if we don’t play well things don’t go well for the organization, so the big thing for us is to focus on how we can be a better team and win games so nothing happens.’’
A focus that hasn’t yet manifested itself with the Bulls sitting at 4-8 after Wednesday’s loss to Orlando and lurking in the Eastern Conference basement in 12th place.
The unknown in all of this, however, remained would the Bulls front office only have interest in cashing out on LaVine as a trade chip, retooling on the run rather than taking steps towards a second rebuild since executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas took over that seat?
Karnisovas has insisted on several occasions that a rebuild was not on the table, and did so as late as early October. According to a source familiar with the situation, that has not changed.
If – which sounds more like when – the Bulls do trade LaVine, there might not be a long line of bodies following him out the door unless it’s all in one package.
Could Caruso be in that package as well?
That’s always a possibility, but very unlikely.
The Bulls were approached by a handful of teams at last February’s trade deadline about Caruso and deemed him all but untouchable. That held up in the offseason as well.
He is fresh off being named first-team All-Defense, he’s only $9.4 million against the cap this season and $9.9 million next season, and in the eyes of the organization he “is the culture.’’
The asking price for LaVine up to this point was deemed unreasonable by other teams, so imagine what the asking price would be for a LaVine-Caruso package.
Either way, the head-scratcher in all of this was the timing. It’s way too early in the season for teams to make a move for LaVine unless they have a headache of their own on the roster. With James Harden already moved to the Clippers that’s basically off the board.
That means waiting until mid-December or mid-January – when recently-signed free agents can be moved – and then reassessing what’s available.
That also means the heat being turned up on the Bulls with every loss they suffer until then. Is it because LaVine already feels like he’s out the door and doesn’t care anymore? Is the locker room divided and getting worse with each defeat?
All of it comes into play with the timing of the LaVine news.
It falls on coach Billy Donovan and his staff to be dialed into that and make sure this product doesn’t stay stuck in the mud because of the fall-out from their two-time All-Star.
“We’ll talk through things or whatever it may be,’’ Donovan said. “Everybody is trying to put their best foot forward to figure out how we can get better and improve.’’
