Los Angeles Lakers point guard Alex Caruso recently went on the record saying that he and LeBron James click well on the court.
A couple years back or so Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso was a mystery to many. At the time, the Lakers already had a surplus of young talent on the roster, thus making Caruso an outlier.
The best-case scenario for Alex as of then would be to fulfill the role of an emergency point guard for Los Angeles. That being said, there was no way he was going to log heavy minutes for the purple and gold.
Of course, shifting back to a couple seasons ago, some folks thought Lonzo Ball would help bring the Lakers back to their dominant ways. Ball was a highly touted prospect out of UCLA whose court vision and IQ impressed the likes of many.
However, Ball is no longer a member of the Lakers. Caruso is one of the only remaining remnants from that particular brand of the Lakers.
During the later vestiges of last season, Caruso made the most out of the opportunities given to him. Because players like Ball sustained injuries, the doors opened wide for the former Texas A&M product to showcase his abilities.
Scattered over 25 appearances, Caruso averaged 9.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists for the Lakers. The young man likewise proved he is no slouch with respect to shooting the rock. The 6-foot-5 floor general shot an efficient 48 percent from range last year, a more than respectable clip.
Additionally, Alex demonstrated glimpses of his adept passing abilities as well over the same span of time. His wise decision-making helped validate the team’s decision to sign him to a two-year pact in the summer months.
Another reason L.A. may have elected to sign Caruso, though, is because of how well he and LeBron James seem to get along. The third-year baller recently shared his thoughts relative to James in an interview with Spectrum SportsNet.
Erik García Gundersen of LeBron Wire reproduced snippets of the interview and noted that LBJ and Alex evidently connect well on the hardwood.
Certainly, it is encouraging to hear Caruso’s thoughts pertinent to LeBron. LeBron tends to make the game “easy” for his teammates, so for there to be validation of that is nice to see.
It is a sign that the two get along fairly well, one would assume, and at the minimum suggests that a level of respect has been established.
One area James benefits Caruso’s game is because of his remarkable passing abilities. Since the former generally gets heavily guarded the closer he gets to the paint, it grants guys like Alex with golden opportunities to score.
Given that the third-year Laker made a decent amount of his three-pointers last season, LeBron could very well rely on Alex when he gets trapped down low. Assuming the 25-year-old can knock down the long ball in 2019-20, he may see a rapid rise in minutes.
Under that hypothetical, Caruso would, in turn, be helping LeBron. If the younger player can contribute to James’ assist total on a consistent basis, greater trust is going to be produced. That is bound to be a key ingredient for a team that has championship-level aspirations.
As García Gundersen said, Caruso has not been in the NBA as long as the other point guards on the roster. In spite of that factor, if he continues to make the most of his opportunities, his fortunes may change sooner rather than later.
The 2019-20 campaign will be a pivotal one for AC. He should be seeing more regular minutes this time around, and if he maximizes those chances, good things will be in store for the Lakers.