Los Angeles Lakers: 3 free agency mistakes Rob Pelinka has made
By Jason Reed
1. The Los Angeles Lakers not re-signing Alex Caruso
This is the move that instantly jumps off the page and it is the one thing that legitimately sours how good the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason has been. Alex Caruso signed a not-so-expensive four-year, $37 million deal with the Chicago Bulls, ending his tenure in Los Angeles.
What makes it even worse is that Caruso’s camp reportedly went back to the Lakers and gave the team a chance to beat the offer as Caruso wanted to stay in LA. The Lakers decided against it and now Caruso is joining former-Laker Lonzo Ball and almost-Laker DeMar DeRozan in Chicago.
Caruso has been so important to this team as his defensive presence was one of the main reasons why the Lakers were a top defensive team. Caruso ranked in the top 10 in Defensive Box Plus/Minus last season (and was in elite company), ranking second among guards in the stat.
His offense may not have been great but it was coming along and getting better year in and year out. Last season he shot over 40% from three and was starting to take them at a higher rate. The seeds for an average offensive player, with elite defensive impact, were starting to grow.
The reason why the Lakers did not re-sign Caruso was the luxury tax and I get that. Ownership did not want to pay a more hefty tax bill than they already will. That being said, if you are going to commit to building a contender and are going to trade for a guy with a $44 million contract then you have to be okay with the luxury tax.
It is what it is. I am happy that the Los Angeles Lakers re-signed Talen Horton-Tucker and at least they kept the younger player but Caruso would have been nice.