The Los Angeles Lakers could be in the mix to land a third star this offseason, or they could take a different route and trade for high-level role players.
Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report listed the “ideal” players to “target” in draft-day trades, including Alex Caruso, a member of the 2020 Lakers championship team.
“Why not go back to a role player who filled a critical role for the franchise’s last title team? Before emerging as an All-Defensive player and upping his offensive output in Chicago, Caruso was filling in all the cracks on the Lakers’ 2019-20 title team,” Buckley wrote on June 13. “His energy was infections, his defense was ferocious and his offensive contributions always felt timely.
“He does plenty of things that can help a win-now team, and since the Bulls are having trouble winning, maybe they’d consider letting him go during the draft. Chicago’s rebuild feels overdue and inevitable, and maybe the promise of available prospects will be enough to convince the front office to finally shift its focus forward.”
‘Caruso Would Be the Perfect Present-Day Fit on the Lakers’
Caruso has proven over the past few seasons to be one of the best defenders in the NBA. He’s been rewarded for his defensive efforts, too, earning All-Defensive nods in each of the last two seasons.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ defense was below average this past season, finishing with the 17th-ranked defensive rating.
Stephen Noh of The Sporting News broke down some of the “Lakers biggest regrets,” which included choosing Talen Horton-Tucker over Caruso. Horton-Tucker and Caruso were both free agents in the summer of 2021, and the Lakers decided to bring Horton-Tucker back on a three-year, $30.7 million deal instead.
Noh wrote that “Caruso would be the perfect present-day fit on the Lakers.”
“Caruso would be the perfect present-day fit on the Lakers,” Noh wrote. “A defense with him and Anthony Davis would be virtually guaranteed top-three in the league.
“Caruso has also turned into a great 3-point shooter, hitting 40.8 percent of his attempts last season. The Lakers have been desperate for that type of 3-and-D player and they let him get away, instead keeping a huge disappointment in Horton-Tucker.”
Lakers Trade Packages for Caruso
If the Los Angeles Lakers want to land Caruso, they’d have to do so in a trade. They could get creative in a deal to make salaries work. They also have three tradeable first-round picks on draft night, which should be more than enough for the 30-year-old.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported before the trade deadline that the Chicago Bulls were looking for two first-round picks in a Caruso trade.
“Elsewhere, Chicago continues to have a high asking price on Alex Caruso of the equivalent of two first-round picks to consider moving the All-Defensive guard,” Scotto wrote.
A Caruso and Austin Reaves trade with picks involved works financially, according to Fanspo’s trade machine. A young player like Reaves could interest them and potentially only make the Lakers move one pick and save the other two for other trades.
