Alex Caruso is one of the Lakers’ biggest mistakes of the last decade

Alex Caruso is one of the Lakers’ biggest mistakes of the last decade. 

He’s a laser. He’s a defensive wizard. He pours his heart into every possession. He’s a winner. 

And the Lakers let him walk. 

The team’s egregious mistake was highlighted in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and Spurs. 

Caruso was the best player on the court for the Thunder even though he was playing alongside two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

It was Caruso who had a team-high 31 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the field, 8-for-14 from beyond the arc, two steals and two blocked shots. 

It was the 6-foot-5 Caruso who was trusted to guard the 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama.

Caruso was everywhere, doing everything. He was like a rabid dog who had been uncaged.

Coming off the bench, he had the second-highest scoring performance of his career. He gritted his teeth and slowed down a defender who’s a foot taller than him.

He was magnificent.   

With 4:36 left in regulation, he blocked Stephon Castle’s layup attempt. Then, with 1:51 remaining and the Thunder down by two points, he made a 36-foot 3-pointer to give them a one-point lead, helping force overtime. 

In the final 2:20 of overtime, he had a steal, a rebound and a 3-pointer to force a second overtime. 

Caruso comes alive during the playoffs. 

When the competition is fiercest, something deep inside of him awakens. It’s the same quality that drove him from being undrafted in 2016 to becoming one of the league’s best role players. 

If grit were measurable, he’d rank off the charts. He’s the type of player who’s value can’t be gleaned from box scores. Wembanyama might be an alien, but Caruso is a unicorn. 

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And the Lakers were too damn stingy to pay him. 

Caruso helped lead the Lakers to their first championship in 10 years in 2020. He was a 3&D specialist. He did the little things. His contribution to that run was so obvious that he was widely considered the team’s unsung hero, regularly drawing MVP chants from sold-out arenas in Los Angeles. 

But instead of rewarding Caruso’s crucial impact on a title-winning team, they clutched their wallet in 2021 and all but led him to the door in free agency. 

Caruso was willing to re-sign for a team-friendly deal. He wanted to remain with the purple and gold. But they lowballed him to avoid luxury tax penalties and he ended up taking his talents to Chicago, where he signed a four-year, $37 million deal. 

The Lakers weren’t willing to match that offer or even pay him anything in that ballpark. 

In fact, in an appearance on the podcast “The Old Man and The Three,” Caruso said the Lakers had initially offered him less than a two-year, $15 million deal.

Caruso had no choice but to leave.

He was eventually traded to the Thunder in 2024 and helped them win the championship last season. In Game 7 of their second round series against the Nuggets, he had the highest plus-minus of anyone on the court, finishing with a +40. 

This postseason, he helped the Thunder go 8-0 through the penultimate round. 

The simple truth is Caruso impacts winning.

He clawed his way from the G League into becoming a two-time champion. He’s the type of player who’s a dog on every possession. Someone who approaches every assignment as though his career depends on it. 

You know, the type of player the Lakers really need. 

The Lakers’ front office has had some major wins over the last decade, as well as some giant failures. 

Among their biggest flops was selecting Lonzo Ball as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, letting Jayson Tatum (No. 3) and De’Aaron Fox (No. 5) slip through their fingers. Another one was dismantling their championship roster to sign Russell Westbrook in 2021.

Letting Caruso walk ranks right up there. 

The Lakers’ two biggest holes this season? Defense and 3-point shooting. They needed help protecting their basket. They need help spreading the court for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James.  

A certain bald-headed guy could’ve made a big difference in those categories. 

If there’s one thing the reigning champion Thunder have shown the rest of the league it’s how much depth matters. Caruso makes teams stronger. He makes them deeper. He makes them tougher. 

This postseason the Lakers aren’t just lamenting getting swept by the Thunder in the second round of the playoffs, a series that showed the enormous chasm between them and the reigning champions. 

They’re also regretting having let one of the Thunder’s most important players walk. 

Caruso is the ultimate blue-collar success story, a player who kicked open the league’s iron door and became a star in his role. 

But for the Lakers, he’s the ultimate reminder of everything they’ve done wrong.