Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso has found himself in rumors leading up to the NBA trade deadline. The veteran is among the best perimeter defenders in the game and has improved offensively since Chicago signed him away from the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 2021-22 season.
It appears that one team has emerged as a possibility to land Caruso ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reports that the struggling Golden State Warriors have Caruso as a top target.
Golden State has been mentioned as both buyers and sellers before the deadline. The team sits at a mere 22-25 on the campaign and is currently the 12th seed in the Western Conference.
Among the biggest issues in Northern California has been defense. The Warriors rank in the bottom 10 of the NBA in points allowed (118.4 PPG) and are 20th in defensive rating.
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Alex Caruso stats (2023-24): 10.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 41% 3-point
Golden State does have the assets to acquire an upgrade ahead of Thursday’s deadline. There were previous reports that the team could be in on Caruso. That’s now been taken to a whole new level.
According to Mannix, the Warriors have “movable” contracts in that of Chris Paul and Klay Thompson. In fact, Paul’s salary for next season is non-guaranteed. As for Thompson, he’s now found himself benched late in two of the past three games due to struggles on both ends of the court.
“Yeah, you kidding me? To go from one of the best players. It’s hard for anybody,” Thompson said about not closing Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Mannix’ report also indicates that other teams view young forward Jonathan Kuminga as untouchable. He’s averaging 21.3 points and 6.0 rebounds on 41% shooting from three-point range since the start of January.
Meanwhile, Brian Windhorst of ESPN indicates that Andrew Wiggins could end up being Golden State’s top asset ahead of the deadline. Whether he’d be included in a broader trade involving Caruso remains to be seen.