The Los Angeles Lakers are undergoing a significant roster overhaul after their first round loss last season, starting with the blockbuster trade that brought Russell Westbrook back home to L.A., but one that is set to continue through free agency.
Among the many players who are free agents for the Lakers is Alex Caruso, who has become a crucial piece in Los Angeles for his terrific backcourt defense off the bench.Caruso’s three-point shooting in the regular season a year ago (40.1 percent) also offered some optimism that he can become an off-ball shooting threat, although he couldn’t sustain that in the postseason. Caruso isn’t in the top tier of free agent point guards, but for teams already flush with scorers looking for more balance in their backcourt, he figured to have plenty of options if he wanted to leave L.A. — or L.A. wasn’t willing to pay him.
On Monday, Caruso indeed chose to leave L.A., which apparently wasn’t willing to meet the price that the Chicago Bulls put up of four years, $37 million, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Free agent guard Alex Caruso has agreed to a four-year, $37M deal with the Chicago Bulls, his agent Greg Lawrence of @Wasserman tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 3, 2021
Caruso will reunite with Lonzo Ball, who was signed and traded to Chicago earlier in the evening, to form a new backcourt pairing that offers the Bulls some intriguing defensive options next to Zach LaVine. Caruso is the replacement for Tomas Satoransky, who was sent to New Orleans in the Ball deal, and gives them a much needed point of attack defender (Ball is a much more effective off-ball defender than on). If the shooting from last regular season can become the norm or something close to it, Caruso’s deal could look like a steal. If not, he is at minimum the best perimeter defender the Bulls have now and that is always helpful when crafting a team around an offensive superstar like LaVine.
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