Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons re-signing Alex Caruso will help in long run

4. He can hit three-pointers

During the aforementioned stretch in which Caruso started to prove that he’s an NBA-caliber rotation player, he displayed an aspect of his game that the Lakers sorely lacked: outside shooting. He shot a red-hot 46.9 percent from 3-point range in those 18 games.

Obviously, that rate is probably not sustainable for him (or most players) over an entire 82-game season, but it’s a sign that he can at least be an above-average 3-ball shooter on a consistent basis.

He does need to show more game-to-game consistency, as he shot 33 percent or less in nine of those 18 games, but in the other nine games, he made at least 50 percent of his treys.

His crown jewel so far was against the Clippers on April 5. Against a feisty team that was fighting to stay in the playoff race and earn a higher seed, Caruso played the role of spoiler by putting up 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting and hitting five of his seven 3-pointers in a 122-117 win.