Things are not going well for the Lakers. Many defeats, many doubts with the bet made (almost all or nothing) by Russell Westbrook, and many injuries, a major problem for a team almost completely reformed compared to last season. LeBron James is still standing and Ariza, Horton-Tucker, and Nunn have not even made their debut. In LA there are concerns about the fit of LeBron and Anthony Davis with Westbrook, the ability to stay healthy of a very veteran squad, and the defense. The hallmark of the team in the last two seasons, and one of the great keys to the 2020 ring, is now being highly questioned because the Lakers have dumped nearly all of their outside rotation specialists: first, it was Danny Green and then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wesley Matthew, and Alex Caruso.
Caruso went from being an internet sensation to a meme generator to become a favorite of the Lakers fans and, above all, a pivotal player who started Game 6 of the 2020 Finals, when Frank Vogel’s team sentenced the ring against the Miami Heat. Caruso went from not being drafted in 2016 to go through the G League with the Thunder affiliate team and from there to arriving, in 2017, around the Lakers. More G League, contract Two way. And finally, an agreement for two seasons and 5.5 million dollars, was signed in the summer of 2019. Caruso, who was in almost all of the Lakers’ most productive on-court quintets, became a free agent at the close of last season. And he signed with the Chicago Bulls for four years and $ 37 million. Rob Pelinka, the big shot in sports for the Lakers, assured that they had done everything possible to retain him (“we wanted him to continue but he preferred to look for something else”) But from the player’s environment it was said that he would have stayed with the Lakers for the money the Bulls gave him … or less. A blow to the Los Angeles fans, who do not stop remembering him. And more so now that the team is marching with a very irregular step and with many problems in defense.
Caruso, meanwhile, plays important minutes for the Bulls. His contract is for 8.6, 9, 9.4, and 9.8 million for each of the four seasons. An amount that would have triggered the Lakers’ accounts: from 156.2 million and 43.7 in luxury tax to more than 233 million total. But many believe that it was necessary to invest to retain Caruso or distribute the expense in another way. Because he was a very important player, as well as very loved, and because his contract would have been a good asset in the market, something that is lacking in a team with three salaries bestial (LeBron, Davis, Westbrook) and too many minimum contracts.
The pain is even higher among the Lakers fans after listening to Caruso explain the situation on JJ Redick’s podcast, The Old Man And The Three, According to the base, the Lakers did not make the minimum effort to continue counting on him, and chose to leave: “Free agency came and I didn’t know what was going to happen. He didn’t hear much from anyone, not even the Lakers. So they called me and made me their offer. They were figures that I couldn’t accept because other teams were going to give me a lot more. He had talked to people in the midlevel, about making 40 million for four years. Nobody got there, but some offers came up. My agent told me that Chicago was very interested. I thought that with the signing of Lonzo Ball that option would be closed but it was not like that. Arturas Karnisovas and Billy Donovan called me to tell me they wanted me to go there, the role they imagined for me… I loved it, because they talked about what I can do, about the player I can be. They made their offer I spoke to the Lakers again and told them if they could match it and they said no. I told them if they could come closer even if the final amount was less and they said no. So I realized that I had to go, I chose Chicago and started a new stage. I think I made a great decision ”.
At one point in the talk, Redick tells Caruso that blink one if the Lakers’ offer was less than a figure he said, 15 million for two years, and twice if it was higher. And Caruso blinked once, so the Lakers offer was really low, something that their social mass still does not assimilate, and it will take time to forget.