Frank Vogel described Caruso as “one of my favorite guys that I’ve ever coached.” Just like during his four seasons with the Lakers, Caruso helped the Bulls with hustle plays, defense and intangibles. “There’s the intelligence piece of him being around on a daily basis, and the toughness, quite frankly. One of Alex’s talents is how hard he plays and how tough and physical he plays the game and how much he hustles. That’s infectious to a group. That’s just something that is going to impact any team he’ll be a part of, and is going to be missed with any team that he leaves.”
Caruso hustled on every play. He accepted any role asked of him. And he fostered strong on-court chemistry with LeBron James, whose superstar skills and persona complemented Caruso’s low-maintenance personality and basketball smarts.
There are a number of caveats to acknowledge when talking about the Lakers’ failure to keep a beloved player.
Just like in the past two seasons when Caruso was a key role player, the Lakers’ championship fortunes still rely on James and Anthony Davis being their most healthy and effective once the playoffs start. The Lakers (8-7) also have barely hovered above .500 because of overlapping injuries to James and other role players as well as to Russell Westbrook and 11 other new players finding their chemistry.
The Lakers calculated they could offset Caruso’s departure by acquiring an All-Star point guard (Westbrook), showing more commitment to an emerging young player (Talen-Horton Tucker) and signing a boatload of former All-Stars and role players on veterans minimum deals that could fulfill their needs with 3-point shooting (Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk), playmaking (Rajon Rondo) and defense (Dwight Howard, Deandre Jordan, Avery Bradley).
Even if the Lakers are among the wealthiest global sports franchises, they are still a family-owned entity that shares profits with other business partners. Those challenges have become even more pronounced during the pandemic amid the season hiatus and restart in 2019-20 and the 2020-21 season taking place mostly without fans.
These circumstances do not absolve Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka or owner Jeanie Buss from any blame, though. Among all the complex variables that factored into their decision to let Caruso go to the Bulls, the Lakers should have followed two different guidelines.
The first? The Lakers should do whatever it takes to maximize their championship window while they still have James on their team. The second? The Lakers should pair James with teammates that best complement his chances to have a successful 19th season and beyond. The answer to both of these questions undoubtedly pointed toward ensuring Caruso remained in a purple and gold uniform.
How could the Lakers whiff on this when they gave the undrafted rookie a chance to grow in the NBA G-League and then into a valued role player? How could the Lakers downplay Caruso’s value when they already saw it for the past four years?
During parts of their three seasons together, Caruso fostered the league’s highest plus-minus rating with James compared to any other on-court duo. While James obviously ran the show with his playmaking, scoring and brute strength, Caruso played off of him with his smarts, hustle and occasional scoring.
The Lakers entered Monday’s game ranked 28th out of 30 NBA teams in points allowed (111.4), and part of that stems from missing Caruso’s perimeter defense.
“Who wouldn’t love a guy that plays as hard as Alex Caruso?” Vogel said. “He represents all of the right things. But this is a business, and tough decisions have to be made with the cap. You love to keep all of your guys every year. It’s not always possible. You want your guys to play well enough to earn big contracts.”
Before the season started, Pelinka also maintained he had hoped to retain Caruso. Clearly not enough though, given the Lakers’ want to save money. Caruso said in a recent podcast with former NBA player J.J. Redick that the Lakers offered him less than a two-year, $15 million deal. Pelinka has admitted he put higher priority on acquiring playmakers and 3-point shooters. But the Lakers never had to choose between re-signing Caruso or assembling the roster the way they did. Whether you approve or disapprove of the Westbrook trade and the handful of veteran’s minimum the Lakers signed, they could have taken either direction with Caruso still in a Lakers uniform.
The Lakers could spend over the cap to retain Caruso because they had his Bird rights. Though he would have taken the roster spot from one of the players that signed on a veteran’s minimum deal, the Lakers still would have had cache to sign mostly the same players. And if nothing else, the Lakers at least would have had an additional asset to use in potential trades after Dec. 15 leading into the trade deadline.
The Lakers’ job has hardly become easier this season without Caruso. But they only have themselves to blame by placing more importance in trimming their luxury tax bill than retaining a key piece to their championship puzzle.
_________________ Tacos
Last edited by Lonzo-Lite on Tue Nov 16, 2021 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
Unforgiveable. AC and Howard were the heart and soul of the defense, the energy guys. Now, we've got a bunch of senior citizens on the team who probably need to pack their walkers on this upcoming roadtrip.
KCP is always a dog on defense even though his shooting can be inconsistent. Offense gets the glory but defense wins championships. _________________ LeGoat! LeMazing! LeGend!
Last edited by lakersfever714 on Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
laker fans are overrating Caruso to a point it's getting ridiculous, national media is running with it because anything makes Lakers look bad will sell. the truth is the guy is what he is, a bench player, not even a 6th man, just a regular rotation guy who has serious limitations on offensive end. he's living in honeymoon stage now in chicago, he will fall back onto earth the same way that team will. nothing to see here, just an undrafted guy used by national media to make Lakers look bad.
laker fans are overrating Caruso to a point it's getting ridiculous, national media is running with it because anything makes Lakers look bad will sell. the truth is the guy is what he is, a bench player, not even a 6th man, just a regular rotation guy who has serious limitations on offensive end. he's living in honeymoon stage now in chicago, he will fall back onto earth the same way that team will. nothing to see here, just an undrafted guy used by national media to make Lakers look bad.
Yes the media tricked us into thinking he was good after he left. While he was on the team, Lakers fans barely noticed him. Some all-star bad takes on this thread.
laker fans are overrating Caruso to a point it's getting ridiculous, national media is running with it because anything makes Lakers look bad will sell. the truth is the guy is what he is, a bench player, not even a 6th man, just a regular rotation guy who has serious limitations on offensive end. he's living in honeymoon stage now in chicago, he will fall back onto earth the same way that team will. nothing to see here, just an undrafted guy used by national media to make Lakers look bad.
Lakers playing Undrafted rookie Reeves with starter minutes just because he provides something Caruso does. Caruso has the Best +ve rating with Lebron. You can say its because of Lebron, Then how come LBJ doesn't have that with others.
If we kept KCP and Kuz and only let Caruso walk, it wouldn't be a big deal. But we got rid of all the defenders and signed bunch of trash bags ( W.R.T defense) for one dimensional above average shooters....
laker fans are overrating Caruso to a point it's getting ridiculous, national media is running with it because anything makes Lakers look bad will sell. the truth is the guy is what he is, a bench player, not even a 6th man, just a regular rotation guy who has serious limitations on offensive end. he's living in honeymoon stage now in chicago, he will fall back onto earth the same way that team will. nothing to see here, just an undrafted guy used by national media to make Lakers look bad.
This. I love the guy, but it's not like the Lakers let Kobe Bryant walk
"Their loss has been Chicago's gain. The 9-4 Bulls sit half a game out of the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Chicago ranks No. 5 defensively thus far this season despite severe front-court limitations due largely to Caruso's point-of-attack excellence. His 33 steals are as many as the top two Laker guards, Russell Westbrook and Bazemore, have totaled combined."
Yep just a replaceable average bench player. Hm he started for us in the finals to win game 6 and just started against us to whoop our ass. Yeah Im sure Chicagos #5 defense is just an illusion, just how our porous defense is an illusion.
I'm patiently waiting for Austin Reaves to develop and all this Caruso hoopla will disappear. I like Caruso, but let's not act like he doesn't have any holes in his game. His shooting is still pretty poor, and his assist numbers are spotty.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the hell out of Caruso because he was developed by us and we groomed him to be the player he is. I just think Austin Reaves has a higher ceiling than Caruso.
I'm patiently waiting for Austin Reaves to develop and all this Caruso hoopla will disappear. I like Caruso, but let's not act like he doesn't have any holes in his game. His shooting is still pretty poor, and his assist numbers are spotty.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the hell out of Caruso because he was developed by us and we groomed him to be the player he is. I just think Austin Reaves has a higher ceiling than Caruso.
Why is the common refrain with these kind of things "It's not like he was Kobe" or something? Can you just throw any mix of players around a star and you have a championship team or do role players matter? We had the #1 defense two years in a row. We maintained it last year despite Lebron and AD missing large swaths of games. This year we're a league average defense (and against a cream puff schedule so far). AC is the not #1 reason why, but is a symptom of the front office's indifference/ignorance to little things that matter.
It's also extreme cherry picking to focus on his 3 point shooting and assists. He's also an All-defense caliber player. Guys like him are why we had the defensive identity we had. And defense wins championships.
I'm patiently waiting for Austin Reaves to develop and all this Caruso hoopla will disappear. I like Caruso, but let's not act like he doesn't have any holes in his game. His shooting is still pretty poor, and his assist numbers are spotty.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the hell out of Caruso because he was developed by us and we groomed him to be the player he is. I just think Austin Reaves has a higher ceiling than Caruso.
Why is the common refrain with these kind of things "It's not like he was Kobe" or something? Can you just throw any mix of players around a star and you have a championship team or do role players matter? We had the #1 defense two years in a row. We maintained it last year despite Lebron and AD missing large swaths of games. This year we're a league average defense (and against a cream puff schedule so far). AC is the not #1 reason why, but is a symptom of the front office's indifference/ignorance to little things that matter.
It's also extreme cherry picking to focus on his 3 point shooting and assists. He's also an All-defense caliber player. Guys like him are why we had the defensive identity we had. And defense wins championships.
Whoa, calm down man. I wasn't saying anything bad about Caruso. I just feel like we have a better player in the long run. I like Caruso, but we can't ignore the fact that he has holes in his game. Yes he's a defensive difference maker, but he has never made it to any all defensive teams. Maybe this year he will and good for him. I'm not trying to discredit anything he's done with us... I truly believe Austin Reaves will be a better player in the long run.
There no point in moaning and (bleep) about what we loss because he'll be in Chicago for 4 years. All this what ifs are annoying. It's already annoying enough the media is doing this constantly and now fans are doing it. Too much hoopla in my opinion.
Even if the Westbrook disaster, that lineup was possible and should be where we're at now. Use that mMLE on Rudy Gay or even PJ Tucker if he would have accepted it.
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8330 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:11 pm Post subject:
The biggest problem when it comes to not keeping Caruso isn't roster vision or construction. It isn't hard to tell that Pelinka wanted to get back to the identity we had in the championship season, while doubling down on athleticism and fast breaks and addressing our lack of 3-point shooting. The other emphasis was multiple ball-handling guards to preserve LeBron.
The real problem is an unwillingness or inability to pay a huge luxury tax bill. I get that Caruso would've cost tens of millions in luxury taxes, but if he's really that elite of a defender, you pay that bill and hope the 3-point shooting he showed last year wasn't a fluke.
Maybe it's time for the Buss family to create an extra stream of income or find some other way to finance a bigger luxury tax bill.
I'm patiently waiting for Austin Reaves to develop and all this Caruso hoopla will disappear. I like Caruso, but let's not act like he doesn't have any holes in his game. His shooting is still pretty poor, and his assist numbers are spotty.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the hell out of Caruso because he was developed by us and we groomed him to be the player he is. I just think Austin Reaves has a higher ceiling than Caruso.
Why is the common refrain with these kind of things "It's not like he was Kobe" or something? Can you just throw any mix of players around a star and you have a championship team or do role players matter? We had the #1 defense two years in a row. We maintained it last year despite Lebron and AD missing large swaths of games. This year we're a league average defense (and against a cream puff schedule so far). AC is the not #1 reason why, but is a symptom of the front office's indifference/ignorance to little things that matter.
It's also extreme cherry picking to focus on his 3 point shooting and assists. He's also an All-defense caliber player. Guys like him are why we had the defensive identity we had. And defense wins championships.
A guy like him got absolutely killed when KCP went down and Booker couldn’t be contained anymore because a guy like Caruso couldn’t defend him at a high level and he couldn’t score back. Caruso shot himself in the foot last year with how piss poor he was defensively versus the Suns. And the same can be said for how he sucked running the Zo without Bron to the point Kuzma was playing point guard and play maker.
And even then Caruso isn’t Fisher or Horace or Horry . They were better and way more integral than him. Horry wasn’t given 2mil to backup Karl Malone. Horace wasn’t retained for 3M off a 15-1 team. Fisher wasn’t given the mle in his prime and let to leave the lakers in 04. All of them were cost cutting measures and all of them had more of an impact and better career than he ever did
Joined: 17 Sep 2008 Posts: 21075 Location: In a white room, with black curtains near the station
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:16 pm Post subject:
Yeah I guess some people are tired of the effusive commentary from his former Laker teammates, coach Vogel, and AC's teammates in Chicago, tired of seeing NBA coverage showing AC's role in Chicago, or hearing about the Bulls' solid defense which has to be an early season fluke or of course that somehow he's not a part of it, and yet somewhere in all of this, tired of this current squad's lack of commitment to defense. Tired of how it leads to no lead being safe these days. Tired of getting blown out instead of shutting the door with a lead. Tired of thinking defense matters that much. So yeah, it hits a nerve when people say they miss AC or question our offseason moves. Denial is a (bleep).
I'm patiently waiting for Austin Reaves to develop and all this Caruso hoopla will disappear. I like Caruso, but let's not act like he doesn't have any holes in his game. His shooting is still pretty poor, and his assist numbers are spotty.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the hell out of Caruso because he was developed by us and we groomed him to be the player he is. I just think Austin Reaves has a higher ceiling than Caruso.
Why is the common refrain with these kind of things "It's not like he was Kobe" or something? Can you just throw any mix of players around a star and you have a championship team or do role players matter? We had the #1 defense two years in a row. We maintained it last year despite Lebron and AD missing large swaths of games. This year we're a league average defense (and against a cream puff schedule so far). AC is the not #1 reason why, but is a symptom of the front office's indifference/ignorance to little things that matter.
It's also extreme cherry picking to focus on his 3 point shooting and assists. He's also an All-defense caliber player. Guys like him are why we had the defensive identity we had. And defense wins championships.
A guy like him got absolutely killed when KCP went down and Booker couldn’t be contained anymore because a guy like Caruso couldn’t defend him at a high level and he couldn’t score back. Caruso shot himself in the foot last year with how piss poor he was defensively versus the Suns. And the same can be said for how he sucked running the Zo without Bron to the point Kuzma was playing point guard and play maker.
And even then Caruso isn’t Fisher or Horace or Horry . They were better and way more integral than him. Horry wasn’t given 2mil to backup Karl Malone. Horace wasn’t retained for 3M off a 15-1 team. Fisher wasn’t given the mle in his prime and let to leave the lakers in 04. All of them were cost cutting measures and all of them had more of an impact and better career than he ever did
Yeah the Suns winning came purely down to Caruso vs Booker. Bird brain analysis. Guy who compares 2003 dollars/salary cap to 2021 money. They didn’t even pay Kareem that much money!!
But hey, doing what worked in 2002 is clearly working out for us this season, so you can’t complain about the results.
I have yet to read a plan where the Lakers mantain the talent they had last year that was clearly what Vogel needed to sustain defensive impact, but at the same time address the following holes/needs:
1) PG when Bron is injured/resting etc (Dennis was leaving for sure)
2) 3 point shooting
3) Third option.
For me it seems it's a lot of well this is horse (bleep), last year we weren't good enough to win a title, but at least we were better than this crap.
Yes, totally agree. This is horse (bleep) at times. I'm not disputing that. I just dispute how keeping everyone together = ring this year. Lebron still misses 60% and we're right now talking about how we need to trade for a 3rd option or point guard.....lets all be real. If we keep Caruso, KCP, Kuz etc. we just enjoy the team more. I don't think our record is much better than 9-6 at best, assuming everyone else (role guys) played as well as they can be (not a given as they are playing with a chip on their shoulder that they didn't play with as Lakers).
Even with an elite D, the record with the team around AD was .500 over 2 years, actually I think sub .500, with no Bron, only role guys and AD. This should be considered. And let me be very clear, I would have signed Alex Caruso, and I was not for the WB trade.
laker fans are overrating Caruso to a point it's getting ridiculous, national media is running with it because anything makes Lakers look bad will sell. the truth is the guy is what he is, a bench player, not even a 6th man, just a regular rotation guy who has serious limitations on offensive end. he's living in honeymoon stage now in chicago, he will fall back onto earth the same way that team will. nothing to see here, just an undrafted guy used by national media to make Lakers look bad.
Caruso is one of the best role players in the NBA. No, he's not a star by any means, but he's one of the best point-of-attack defensive players in the NBA and the Lakers could REALLY use that rather than relying on Avery Bradley or Wayne Ellington. He's a good player that's well worth the money he's being paid and it's a little disheartening that the Lakers let him walk because Jeanie wanted to save a few million dollars on a team that's built to contend NOW.
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