1. Alex Caruso
The bald mamba lands in at number one! Alex Caruso has been a surprise for a Lakers team that is number one in the West. He is a spark plug that immediately enters the game and no matter what the situation is, e changes the atmosphere. The team energy goes up and the fans get into it.
Caruso doesn’t possess a huge stat line and nor will he ever be a dominant player. But, what he has is fundamentals and toughness. He is willing to play whatever role he is tasked with and he is effecting his team on both ends of the floor in a positive way.
Advanced stats have him at a 107.9 offensive rating which is around average. His defensive rating of 98.3 would be put into the elite category, as well as his +9.6 net-rating. He is changing the team with his energy and slowly starting to gain more minutes.
He started off the season cold shooting the ball but is starting to bump up how averages each game. He now has a shooting split line of .434/.339/.758. Those numbers should continue to go up and his 5.4 points per game average should continue to climb as well.
To fully put into perspective the impact he is having we take his 98.3 defensive rating when he is on the court. We then take the defensive rating of him off the court, it shoots up to 107.5, that’s a -9.2 net-rating comparison. The bald mamba is breaking out and Lakers fans love it, at $2.7 million the team has a steal.