At first, people noticed Alex Caruso because of his looks. Not to be disrespectful, but he didn’t strike as an NBA player at first. He became the butt of the joke, a meme, and a guy not many people expected to succeed.
That’s why he only became more of a sensation when he earned his stripes. Caruso proved to be a never-ending source of energy off the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers and blossomed into one of the league’s finest backcourt defenders.
So, given the fact that the Lakers had his bird rights, most people expected them to figure out the way to keep him in free agency. Shockingly, they simply let him walk away to sign with the Chicago Bulls.
According to reports, Caruso’s camp came back to the Lakers when the Bulls made that offer, yet the Lakers didn’t even make a counteroffer. Now, Sam Amick of The Athletic confirmed that they didn’t try to retain him at all:
“There was a sense of disappointment on Alex Caruso’s side there wasn’t a Lakers push to keep him, like come in at 80% of the Chicago number. It was essentially a ‘good luck in Chicago’ type of feel to it,” Amick said on The Athletic’s daily NBA podcast.
Given what Caruso brought to the table during his time in Los Angeles and how much of a role he played in the team’s success over the past couple of years, this is pretty shocking, to be honest.
Gladly for the Bulls, they’ll now get a versatile defender that can guard multiple positions and shoot the three-ball at a 40% clip. All that on a very reasonable deal for the next four years. Hopefully, he’ll get the recognition he’s due for and will be treated with the respect he’s earned.
