After three seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Alex Caruso was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder back in June, a blockbuster that blew the door open to a busy summer of transactions around the association.
With the star-caliber guard now in the mix, the Thunder are viewed as legitimate championship contenders and the team best positioned to remain a powerhouse leading up to the end of the decade. But with Caruso helping the team potentially reach that kind of status, next season will undoubtedly be one of huge expectations for the 30-year-old.
The expectation
Caruso won’t be tasked with doing something next season that he hasn't done before. Over his nearly decade-long NBA career, the Texas native has been a two-way constant, a reliable 3-point shooter, and someone who developed the tendency to make winning defensive plays down the stretch of games.
In 2024, the Thunder will expect precisely that from him. Unlike his fellow newly-arrived teammate Isaiah Hartenstein, Caruso doesn’t have the pressure of trying to live up to a massive contract, although he will set out to showcase that he is worth every penny of the roughly $80 million deal he can earn as early as December. Still, that’s different than entering a season with the weight of the NBA universe watching to see if you actually deserved the hefty pact you signed over the summer.
Caruso fired away from the 3-point line last season in what turned into the most proficient outside shooting season of his career. He splashed home nearly 41% on 5.9 attempts per 36 minutes, in addition to his 40.6% on catch-and-shoot opportunities and 45.5% on pull-up 3’s. The guard’s profile as an elite distance shooter and experience in big games is the package that excites Thunders fans the most — and why many envision he’ll rattle off an immediate impact on the team.
Considering that the 30-year-old is in the conversation for the biggest trade acquisition in franchise history, in addition to his numbers and how he’s influenced wins and losses on his former teams, Caruso’s biggest expectation for the 2024–25 season is to become the Thunder’s heart-and-soul leader. While it's an intangible quality and not something you can assess with numbers, the eye test will reveal enough about how his teammates view him as the season progresses.
Creating a defensive monster
Often the best defender by a mile on his previous teams, Caruso finally has some stiff competition. In fact, some may consider Lu Dort, who’s five years younger than Caruso, as the team’s most devastating on-ball defender because of his length and burly makeup. Dort’s stockier frame allows him to switch more and guard more positions, primarily point guard through power forward — something he has over the spindlier Caruso.
However, it’s not about who the better defensive player is between these two when it is much more about the damage they can cause opponents in tandem. Dort shouldered heavy responsibilities last postseason against the Dallas Mavericks, often switching between the powerful movement of Luka Doncic and the pliant maneuvering of Kyrie Irving. But with Caruso slotted by him next season, the Thunder now have an assortment of lineups they can try without sacrificing shooting or defense.
OKC was rock-solid defensively last season — fourth in defensive rating and 11th in points allowed per game — but not a unit considered among the most fearsome. Caruso will inevitably raise the team’s defensive capacity and push them into the top 5 across all major defensive categories. Pair him and Dort with ascending Defensive Player of the Year candidate Chet Holmgren and the infallible Hartenstein, and talk about a supremely potent bunch.
Related: Isaiah Hartenstein’s No. 1 expectation for next season
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