In the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Toronto Raptors, Alex Caruso had another productive performance, consolidating the spot he earned in the last several games.
Things were looking good for Los Angeles Lakers backup point guard Tyler Ennis. With minutes available at point guard due to Lonzo Ball‘s injury and some decent performance on his side, he looked like he had the inside track to playing time.
However, 23-year-old Alex Caruso finally showed up. Caruso is displaying the qualities for which he received a two-way contract in July. Caruso’s performance has relegated Ennis to an awkward part-time starting point guard job.
Ball’s knee sprain, concurrently with Jordan Clarkson more stable stint at shooting guard to be a better scoring threat, has opened up minutes for a backup role Caruso embraced with the confidence we had not seen in him since the Las Vegas Summer League tournament.
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The Texas A&M product is doing well enough with the minutes granted to him so far. He gave a confirmation in last night’s game against the Toronto Raptors.
Against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, Caruso played 17 minutes, scoring 11 points along with five assists, four rebounds, one steal and one block.
He was the only Lakers player that received at least 10 minutes of playing time and finished with a positive plus/minus.
Playing on a two-way contract, the young point guard can play up to 45 days in NBA, while employing the remaining time with affiliates South Bay Lakers.
In the G League, Caruso is averaging 18.4 points, 7.4 assists and 2.1 steals, leading, when available, the fourth best offense of the league to a 13-6 record. He had season-highs of 41 points against the Sioux Falls Skyforce and 13 assists against the Memphis Hustle.
Once Ball will be back, Caruso will constitute a good replacement off the bench, playing a brand of basketball not much different from Lonzo, as an athletic pass-first point guard. He is also a tall playmaker like Lonzo, standing at 6’5″. The Lakers will have a decision to make as Caruso may have to be elevated from the two-way contract to remain with the team.
Furthermore, the Texan represents a good complement to Clarkson as part of the second unit, being a facilitator while the three-year guard is more of a scorer.
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At this point, Caruso would probably deserve a non-guaranteed multi-year contract. In the future he might come as a cheap backup option to Ball, taking over the few minutes he does not play and maintaining the same playing style on the floor.