LeBron James has had some phenomenal teammates during his illustrious 19-year career, with a string of Hall of Famers appearing alongside The King.
From Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in Cleveland to Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami and now Anthony Davis in Los Angeles – LeBron has experienced championship success at every stop, forming devastating combinations with each group. teammate.
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In Los Angeles, however, he pulled off one of those impossible 1-2 punches with another teammate. Alex Caruso.
The Texas A&M’s unimproved guard worked his way into the league through the G League and earned his stripe as a fearsome, dynamic bench player, giving the Lakers a burst Blast defensive energy with their second unit, not to mention the outstanding dunks. His ability to not only compete with LeBron but thrive has made him an integral part of their 2020 championship journey.
Last season, The Wall Street Journal calling him LeBron James while playing with LeBron James, analyzing hundreds of teammate pairs with no combination with LeBron producing a better net stat than Caruso.
Caruso’s high IQ at the start of the game, good off-ball mobility, clever defensive instincts and a career in scoring 37.5% from the 3-pointer created a tumultuous partnership in the partnership. with LeBron and was exactly the type of player he needed.
Despite coming off the bench in the championship-winning 2019-20 season, Caruso still managed to keep his high plus and minus points (+3.8) and lead the team in real points (+9.8). .
After four seasons in Los Angeles, this past summer it was time for Caruso to get paid, with his first free agent. Given the Lakers’ past success and his pivotal role in it, it’s safe to assume he’ll be back in purple and gold for the 2021-22 season, but now he finds himself wearing red and white in Chicago. So that begs the question…
Why didn’t he re-sign with the Lakers?
Caruso has made it clear that his desire is to stay in LA, and the fan favorite recently revealed on JJ Redick’s Old Man and the Three podcast that while he wants to return, the organization simply wants to return. is not offering him a contract that meets his market. value, although he is even willing to reduce the price.
“So I really didn’t know what to expect, and I really didn’t hear from any of the teams including the Lakers leading until 6 p.m., and then they called and the Lakers made an offer. offer, and it wasn’t, “Not an offer that I would accept because I would get significantly more money from another team,” he said.
“Like we just said, one guy who doesn’t have a lot of decision-making power, fighting for a job, basically 30 teams telling me they don’t think I’m good enough to play in the NBA for two or three years. . I need to earn a lot of money, this is real life we’re talking about. I need financial security for me, for my people.”
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that the Lakers are only willing to pay Caruso $7 million per year, and he confirmed just as much on the podcast that the deal is for two years and $15 million.
Coming from the G League and in search of his first big payday, Caruso had multiple suitors in freelance company and eventually signed with the Chicago Bulls for four years and raised $37 million.
How did he end up signing with the Bulls?
Chicago had a busy free agent season during the off-season that didn’t bring in DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball, through signings and trades, with the arrival of the latter initially making Caruso think a deal won’t happen, but as he explains…
“I answer the phone with an AK [Arturas Karnisovas] and with Billy [Donovan], and the way they talk about how they want to play, the way they see me as a player, I think they hit the nail in the head,” Caruso said.
“I think all they said, I was like ‘I think that’s correct, I think that’s what I bring to the table, I think that’s how I can help this team win, I think. is the direction this team wants to go.’ I think it’s necessary to have the things that I have. a little bit more, they said no. I said OK, if that’s what happens, I’m ready to go to Chicago and start the next chapter.”
Will the Lakers regret not bringing him back?
During the first few weeks of the season, Caruso was a huge hit in Chicago, helping to bring them to fifth best defender in the league and a record 8-6, while the Lakers struggled out of the gate on both sides of the ball, let 111.9 points per game, ranked 28th in the NBA.
The 27-year-old has taken on more responsibilities in Chicago as leader of their second unit and is giving the Bulls all he has given the Lakers and more, currently sitting third in the NBA in steals (2.5 per game), despite playing only 28.1 minutes per game – the lowest among the top 5.
The Lakers’ slow start to the season can be attributed to a number of factors, including a difficult chemistry with the 11 new faces on the roster, plus the absence of LeBron James, who is currently sidelined for Abdominal injury, absent for the last six matches. .
With absolute talent on their roster in Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony et al. Along with James, the Lakers will certainly figure it out, but for now, all they can do is watch Caruso help propel the Bulls to the top of the Eastern Conference.
