Los Angeles Lakers regular season grades: Backcourt players

Alex Caruso: B

Defensive Real Plus-Minus: 0.80 (6th)

Field-Goal Percentage Differential: -7.7 (1st)

Defensive Rating: 102.1 (2nd)

Offensive Rating: 105.4 (6th)

On/Off Offensive Differential: -1.7 (6th)

Traditional Stats: 9 PPG, 3 RPG, 3 APG, .445 FG%

Alex Caruso was a defensive dynamo for the Lakers. He finished the year with the 19th best defensive rating (minimum 15 minutes per game) in the NBA. He also held the opponent he was guarding to almost eight percentage points lower than their average field goal percentage, good for 1st on the Lakers and also good for 1st among all qualified guards in the NBA.

Caruso played with incredible intensity on the less glamorous side of the ball, giving the Lakers a much-needed infusion of effort and heart. He used his 6”5’ height at the point guard position to pester the other team’s ball handler and he had a knack for getting a hand up whenever any player he was guarding took a shot.

Alex wasn’t bad on offense, either. His traditional stats weren’t very impressive, but as he got more playing time towards the end of the season, he showed he has surprising burst to the rim, better than average finishing ability and a decent outside stroke.

Alex Caruso led the Lakers in net rating during March at +18.2. When he was on the court the Lakers outscored their opponents by nearly 8 points and when he was off the court the Purple and Gold were outscored by a little more than 10 points.

The Lakers as a whole cooled off in April, but Caruso still had a +4.8 net rating, which when compared to KCP: -15.5 +/-, McGee: -35.8 +/-, and Rondo: -41.9+/-, looks really good.

Alex Caruso was one of the lone bright spots for the Lakers this season and he proved he should absolutely be re-signed during the offseason. The only reason he doesn’t get an A grade is that he only played 531 total minutes on the season, not enough to really help the Lakers make a run at the playoffs.