Oklahoma City Thunder & Chicago Bulls (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Chicago Bulls have agreed to the first blockbuster trade of the 2024 NBA offseason.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Oklahoma City Thunder are acquiring guard Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for fellow guard Josh Giddey. Caruso is entering the final year of a four-year pact.
The 30-year-old Caruso has emerged as one of the best defenders in the league, earning NBA All-Defensive First Team and NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
An undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M, Caruso won the NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 Orlando bubble. In the 2021 offseason, he signed a four-year contract with the Bulls worth $36.98 million.
Caruso now heads to an Oklahoma City Thunder team that’s coming off one of its best seasons in the post-Kevin Durant era. They went 57-25 to lock down the top seed in the Western Conference, only to be dispatched by Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks in the second round.
Alex Caruso as a Bull:
7.8 PPG
3.4 RPG
3.4 APG
1.6 SPG
2x All-DefensiveHeaded to a top 5 defensive team. pic.twitter.com/gP6GVyrTCa
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 20, 2024
As for the Bulls, they’re getting a quality guard in Giddey, the No. 6 selection of the 2021 NBA Draft. Over his three seasons with the Thunder, Giddey averaged 13.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.
Alex Caruso Is A Great Pickup For Oklahoma City Thunder
Though the Thunder had the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA during the 2023-24 season, they largely struggled to contain the opposition’s top scorers. Doncic especially had his way with the Thunder during the postseason, proving that OKC needed more defensive help.
Caruso provides limited offense, but this is a trade OKC will happily take. They have enough scoring led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. With Caruso now joining an already-stingy defense, there’s no telling just how much better the Thunder will be in their own end next season.
