Bulls sign Alex Caruso - 4 years, $37 million

[Just_Bullz]

So Alex and Coby will form the back court against second teams...but as some mentioned, we need help with front court pronto.

We have Zach, Lonzo, Coby, Alex and Ayo at the moment, something gotta give.

[chitowndish]

I’m bummed about losing Theis too I was really excited when we picked him up but it sounds like Caruso is an elite defender on the perimeter that is not going to make mistakes on either end and can contribute enough offensively to keep defenses honest. I like Theis but I think this is just a more valuable skill set to have today and the Bulls in particular need smart guards that can defend or it doesn’t matter what you do with the bigs they just get torched by opposing guards and picked apart relentlessly.

Then there is just typically a good crop of defensive rebounding shot blocking bigs we just got rid of Gafford had Portis before that, people mention Taj etc. I think you can find that skillset fairly easily and I guess as evidence if Garpax were reliably able to get those types of guys I don’t think it’s particularly difficult to do. Someone that is excellent stopping the ball at the point of attack is just so valuable in this league and with guys like Young if anything it’s getting more important to be able to harass those guys and Caruso looks effective on bigger players. I do really like Theis though and it sucks to lose him but I like this move.

[fleet]

I’m bummed about losing Theis too I was really excited when we picked him up but it sounds like Caruso is an elite defender on the perimeter that is not going to make mistakes on either end and can contribute enough offensively to keep defenses honest. I like Theis but I think this is just a more valuable skill set to have today and the Bulls in particular need smart guards that can defend or it doesn’t matter what you do with the bigs they just get torched by opposing guards and picked apart relentlessly.

Then there is just typically a good crop of defensive rebounding shot blocking bigs we just got rid of Gafford had Portis before that, people mention Taj etc. I think you can find that skillset fairly easily and I guess as evidence if Garpax were reliably able to get those types of guys I don’t think it’s particularly difficult to do. Someone that is excellent stopping the ball at the point of attack is just so valuable in this league and with guys like Young if anything it’s getting more important to be able to harass those guys and Caruso looks effective on bigger players. I do really like Theis though and it sucks to lose him but I like this move.

The Bulls can play full court defense now. Which is nice. Pat playing free safety on front line.

[chitowndish]

The Bulls can play full court defense now. Which is nice. Pat playing free safety on front line.

That is so valuable in the 4th to just be able to crank up the full court pressure on other teams and change things up. I’m also pretty excited to see Caruso LaVine Lonzo Williams Vuc I think that is a really nice mix of skills and also excited seeing Lonzo’s full court passing we’ll be able to put some good full court pressure on both sides of the ball.

[Grodoboldo]

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[Ccwatercraft]

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Damn I didn't think he was that good of a defender. Looks like a great pickup to put next to Lavine/coby

Think Dunn who can spot up for 3 @ 40%

Seriously this dude is gonna be a fan favorite the minute he checks in. A god damn pest on the perimeter, athletic, solid jumper and doesn't need the ball in his hands. When he gets his first dunk the United Center is gonna explode.

Agree.

Im actually more excited adding him than Ball.

He will he a great asset to the team.

[Andi Obst]

Another plus with Caruso is that he's a very smart cutter, which is extremely important with Vuc and Thad (if he stays).

I just really love that signing, man. Just makes so much sense to me.

[Grodoboldo]

Guys, Theis was a poor fit at the 4. Ideally, he'd be the backup to our 2nd best player, a role that is only like 20mpg, and as such, it would be better suited for someone with more positional versatility, like Thad. Even if Thad is gone, in today's NBA it's much easier and cheaper to fill a frontcourt role than a guard one. The BAE or even the minimum can get you a quality 15mpg big.

Also, I know this might come as a shocker to some of you, but barring another move (quite possible, BTW), Caruso might be our starter PG. Even more importantly, even if not starting, I think he's the favorite to be our closer at the 1. Caruso, Lavine, Lonzo, Pat and Vuc is our most balanced lineup right now.
He's a good two-way player that can hit the 3 and defend 1-3 in switching, zone and tradicional defensive schemes. That's EASILY worth the MLE.

We're not rebuilding anymore, so get used to paying good players what they're worth.

[MrSparkle]

Guys, Theis was a poor fit at the 4. Ideally, he'd be the backup to our 2nd best player, a role that is only like 20mpg, and as such, it would be better suited for someone with more positional versatility, like Thad. Even if Thad is gone, in today's NBA it's much easier and cheaper to fill a frontcourt role than a guard one. The BAE or even the minimum can get you a quality 15mpg big.

Also, I know this might come as a shocker to some of you, but barring another move (quite possible, BTW), Caruso might be our starter PG. Even more importantly, even if not starting, I think he's the favorite right now to be our closer at the 1. Caruso, Lavine, Lonzo, Pat and Vuc is our most balanced lineup right now.
He's a good two-way player that can hit the 3 and defend 1-3 in switching, zone and tradicional defensive schemes. That's EASILY worth the MLE.

We're not rebuilding anymore, so get used to paying good players what they're worth.

This is it. I like Theis’ game, but sometimes a GM needs to swallow the truth. He’s not a good fit for a clunky SF in Pat and a full-time C in Vuc. Exchanging him for a 3D guard was absolutely the right move.

Keeping him would’ve reminded me of Pax’s decision to resign Noc. Loved his fire and persona, but that 2nd contract was a complete mistake given the roster construction, needs and log-jam.

[Red8911]

Some of you guys don’t seem to know who Caruso is, he’s been on the Lakers so many years how can you not ? Lol.

Anyway he’s just a solid off the bench role player who always plays hard defensively, smart, and can knock down shots or even drive in sometimes. Fans in LA love him for his effort but honestly he’s nothing special, again just a solid off the bench player.

I don’t mind the signing though ,this is the type of experienced players you need to get back to winning. My only problem with this was choosing him over Theis, I thought he was valuable here and needed to stay but let’s wait until the moves finish I guess to judge.

[durantbird]

Bulls is only the natural destination for the modern day GOAT

[GoBlue72391]

Bulls have for years been burned by their poor parameter defense. They seem to be addressing it.

Now to get an athletic rim protector...

After the draft they signed Troy Brown Jr. He's a rim protector. We don't know his contract status yet tho.

Baxter*

He's an exhibit 10/two-way contract/camp signing for now. He might not even make the team, and if he does he doesn't figure to be in the rotation. You can't count on him as your rim protector. We need a real proven veteran rim protector.

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[MrSparkle]

I thought Lonzo and TJ McConnell would’ve been a solid FA.

TJ got roughly less but same money as Caruso… but he’s also a smaller and older player with more mileage, scrapes and bruises. Not sure if last year was an outlier though, cause TJ’s numbers dwarf Caruso’s.

Conceptually Caruso addresses a lot of issues. Higher on the signing than yesterday. Just have a lot of trauma with Lebron chips.

[Ccwatercraft]

Guys, Theis was a poor fit at the 4. Ideally, he'd be the backup to our 2nd best player, a role that is only like 20mpg, and as such, it would be better suited for someone with more positional versatility, like Thad. Even if Thad is gone, in today's NBA it's much easier and cheaper to fill a frontcourt role than a guard one. The BAE or even the minimum can get you a quality 15mpg big.

Also, I know this might come as a shocker to some of you, but barring another move (quite possible, BTW), Caruso might be our starter PG. Even more importantly, even if not starting, I think he's the favorite to be our closer at the 1. Caruso, Lavine, Lonzo, Pat and Vuc is our most balanced lineup right now.
He's a good two-way player that can hit the 3 and defend 1-3 in switching, zone and tradicional defensive schemes. That's EASILY worth the MLE.

We're not rebuilding anymore, so get used to paying good players what they're worth.

Im looking forward to filling the gap in the frontcourt but free agency isn't over.

So far im thrilled

[ChettheJet]

I actually thought of Caruso as a Plan B or C if we didn't get Ball. He would have been a backup PG behind Coby if they thought White would make enough gains in the experiment year 2 or we got shut out in free agency.

While I'm surprised at the size of the deal this actually seems like a GarPax kind of player to bring in. Solid on defense, role player not the offensive production you'd like, experience in big games.

All that said I sure don't see how anybody thinks means Coby is out. They now have a genuine back court bench. If a games dictates that they need more scoring White plays more with either Ball or Lavine and if it's a matchup game where defense is what it's going to take Caruso takes more minutes.

I also don't see Caruso taking money that could have gone for Theis, who I wish we could have resigned. Some of you just don't have the capability of looking at either the big picture or playing the long game. This likely means they have targeted some other PF or two to come in with a Markkanen S&T or for Young or with Aminu as a chip. I keep seeing WASH with a serious overload of 2-3 year contracts at both forward spots and talk of them moving Kuzma. There's time to expand that Laker trade for Young to head to LA and Kuzma to end up here. That might be simple to pull off or because SAS haven't made a big splash yet send Derozen to the Bulls in a double S&T for Lauri can't be ruled out. Look at the other S&T deals that have been done, they're not point for point value exchanges so stop using that as an excuse why something can't be done.

[FranchisePlayer]

Watch on YouTube

Got to love his eye for the game based on this.

[FranchisePlayer]

I just ran a comp with Marcus Smart, who is the same age... and Caruso gives you similar defense and better offensive efficiency, but not same volume. Still, warming to the move even at the cost.

Smart is not smart, an aggressive ****. Better to acquire a sound player.

[biggestbullsfan]

I might be in the minority but I dont think he is miles better than what we have in Coby. Especially from a backup perspective. I hope he proves me wrong and also that we make more moves, but I wonder if we could have use those funds elsewhere.

[Guru]

Caruso averaged 8 ppg in college. That's nuts. Grinder.

[patagonia]

Caruso / Coby backcourt is not bad for backups.