With the Los Angeles Lakers starting to play their young players, Alex Caruso is one of the guys that is impressing his teammates.
As the Los Angeles Lakers begin their tank and start looking ahead to next season, the remaining games are important for some of their young players. Extra minutes with key guys out allows the Lakers to see what they have with some of their young players that didn’t get a ton of minutes earlier in the season.
One of those players is Alex Caruso. As one of the two players that the Lakers have on a two-way deal, Caruso has spent time in both the G-League and the NBA this season. Due to injuries and the team being out of the playoff hunt, Caruso is getting more minutes with the Lakers in the NBA of late.
In the last 10 games, Caruso is averaging 22 minutes per game, as he has taken over as the backup point guard spot behind Rajon Rondo. During that span, Caruso is averaging 10.0 points, 2.9 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
Caruso has been very efficient shooting the ball for the Lakers, as he is shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from beyond the arc in his last 10 games. Recently, Rajon Rondo talked about how impressed he was with Caruso. Here’s what he said on Spectrum Sports with text via Anthony Irwin of SilverScreenAndRoll.com.
"“The intangibles he brings… He does all the little things for us as a team. When he’s out there he’s very effective, and he’s very efficient as well.”"
With this being Caruso’s second season on a two-way deal with the Lakers, he is certainly trying to prove to them and the rest of the NBA that he belongs. In this recent stretch, he is certainly performing well and looks like an NBA player.
While Caruso might never be a starting caliber point guard in the NBA, his recent performance might indicate that he can be a backup, or a really good end of the bench player. For a team that has struggled with injuries at the point guard position the last two years, the Lakers will have to take a long hard look at Caruso this summer in their future plans.