Grade the trade: Lakers bring back Alex Caruso is new proposal
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers are arguably the best team in the entire league at not only finding hidden gems in unlikely places but developing those hidden gems and getting the most out of their potential.
For a long time, Alex Caruso was the gold standard example of this phenomenon in Los Angeles. Caruso, who was undrafted, rose from being a South Bay Lakers standout to being one of the most important players on the 2020 championship team.
Caruso paved the way for players like Austin Reaves, who has undergone a very similar arc as Caruso in Los Angeles and is also a fan favorite as a result. Unlike Caruso, though, the Lakers decided to keep Reaves around this summer with a big payday.
Los Angeles let Caruso walk in the 2021 offseason as he signed a four-year, $36.98 million contract with the Chicago Bulls. It made no sense at the time and still makes no sense as LA easily could have had both Caruso and Reaves on the roster.
The Lakers may have a chance to right their previous wrong via a trade.
While Caruso is definitely going to start the 2023-24 season on the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers should be monitoring how the season is going in Chicago. There is a lot of question marks about the future of the Bulls and they absolutely are a prime candidate to be sellers at the deadline.
If that is the case, the Lakers could try and right a wrong and bring Caruso back to LA via trade. It would not be the first time that Los Angeles has brought a former guard back via trade. Let’s not forget about D’Angelo Russell.
On the following pages, we are going to break down what the trade would likely have to look like as well as hand out grades to both teams involved.