Austin Reaves is Better Than Alex Caruso

Liam_Gallagher · Post #1 » by **Liam_Gallagher** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:00 pm

Caruso is the better defender, but he's become a huge liability on offense to the point where he's scared to shoot and is essentially a guard version of PJ Tucker. He's been a big reason why Chicago has been so poor. 4 shot attempts in 30 minutes for a guard is just ridiculous. Even if he shot 90% from the field he wouldn't average double digits. Reaves, on the other hand, is younger and more offensively skilled. I can see Reaves having a very good career.

Kingdibs19 · Post #2 » by **Kingdibs19** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:06 pm

Agreed. Caruso has been very overrated by Laker and Bulls fans cause he plays hard and looks like an angry baby. His defence is great but his offence has always been shakey.
If he loses confidence in hitting wide open 3s then he becomes a liability.

mademan · Post #3 » by **mademan** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:07 pm

Lakers have been awesome with their 2nd round finds. I saw Max Christie playing some very decent defense against Beal yesterday too and looking like an NBA player

heezyo2o · Post #4 » by **heezyo2o** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:17 pm

I was never huge on Caruso, but he was never on a Laker team that lacked scoring options and depth like on this current Laker team. If Reaves were on those past Laker teams, both his minutes and shots would be down. Alternatively, if Caruso was still on the Lakers he might be starting and getting a lot more shots up.

PapaBear53 · Post #5 » by **PapaBear53** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:22 pm

Blasphemy!!!

FrobeBryant · Post #6 » by **FrobeBryant** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:26 pm

Doesn’t quite have the strength of Caruso nor the elite on ball defense but his offensive game more than makes up for that. He’s a better ball handler with better feel for the game than Caruso. Im really hoping Rob doesn’t trade him or anything stupid like that.

Post #7 » by **MoneyTalks41890** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:31 pm

Lakers could use them both. No reason this needed to be one or the other.

PapaBear53 · Post #8 » by **PapaBear53** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:35 pm

The Jazz will give you THT back for him. After all, THT was the second coming of MJ when he played for the Lakers.

jehosafats · Post #9 » by **jehosafats** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:38 pm

mademan wrote:Lakers have been awesome with their 2nd round finds. I saw Max Christie playing some very decent defense against Beal yesterday too and looking like an NBA player

Yeah, then they’re quick to lose those 2nd rounders. I’m still mad about Zubac.

Exp0sed · Post #10 » by **Exp0sed** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:45 pm

Caruso in most systems would be quite a substantial liability on offense
His defense is amazing but it's hard to fit a "guard version of PJ Tucker" in today's NBA
Disagree about Caruso's part in the Bulls struggles, he's been ok and he's the least of their problems

I think he fits best with a guy like the Joker: Caruso's I.Q, hustle and cuts to the basket would be consitently rewarded
I think playing alongside Jokic can mitigate some of his offensive liabilities and allow him to do what he does best on defense (which is something the Nuggets could sure use lol)

Reaves is clearly a better offensive player, shooter and scorer but he is way behind defensively

Caruso is probably still a bit better overall right now but he's 24 and certainly with room to grow
I think it's fair to say Reaves will surpass Caruso pretty soon

Post #11 » by **Texas Chuck** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:46 pm

Lakers exceptionalism will always be the best exceptionalism. No matter when.

Tracymcgoaty · Post #12 » by **Tracymcgoaty** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:47 pm

PapaBear53 wrote:The Jazz will give you THT back for him. After all, THT was the second coming of MJ when he played for the Lakers.

I saw Jazz fans on this forum say getting THT might have been the steal of the decade. What happened?

Speedlot · Post #13 » by **Speedlot** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 8:57 pm

We never overrated caurso let's be real. He was definitely useful while with us but once he was gone we became idiots to the world cus it's cool to say lakers are dumbasses. People still talk about Zubac as if he's anything special. We won a damn title and people still think Zubac trade was one of the worse thing ever. lol Kid was free. He wasn't that good for us to deserve all this grief.

Liam_Gallagher · Post #14 » by **Liam_Gallagher** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:12 pm

Speedlot wrote:We never overrated caurso let's be real. He was definitely useful while with us but once he was gone we became idiots to the world cus it's cool to say lakers are dumbasses. People still talk about Zubac as if he's anything special. We won a damn title and people still think Zubac trade was one of the worse thing ever. lol Kid was free. He wasn't that good for us to deserve all this grief.

Yeah Caruso was also pretty bad in the 2021 playoffs. I don’t remember many Laker fans begging for him back. Zubac was traded a year before AD so he would’ve been thrown into that deal or the one with Washington to clear up cap space for a potential Kawhi signing. He wouldn’t be a Laker now lol.

The only player the Lakers whiffed on was Kuzma. He was young, athletic, capable, and a champion when he was traded and it’s not surprising they’re looking at getting him back.

Braggins · Post #15 » by **Braggins** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:13 pm

The GOAT discussion has already been settled. Caruso is 1-0 in the finals.

homecourtloss · Post #16 » by **homecourtloss** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:16 pm

Liam_Gallagher wrote:Caruso is the better defender, but he's become a huge liability on offense to the point where he's scared to shoot and is essentially a guard version of PJ Tucker. He's been a big reason why Chicago has been so poor. 4 shot attempts in 30 minutes for a guard is just ridiculous. Even if he shot 90% from the field he wouldn't average double digits. Reaves, on the other hand, is younger and more offensively skilled. I can see Reaves having a very good career.

The Bulls are -1.9 per 100 possessions played this year. They are +2.1 per 100 with Caruso. They are -5.5 per 100 with Caruso off court. They are 7.4 points per 100 possessions BETTER with Caruso on court. As a role player, he’s done what’s been asked of him and the Bulls have been better with him on court.

Zach “Net Negative” Lavine on the other hand…

sjballer03 · Post #17 » by **sjballer03** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:26 pm

Kingdibs19 wrote:Agreed. Caruso has been very overrated by Laker and Bulls fans cause he plays hard and looks like an angry baby. His defence is great but his offence has always been shakey.
If he loses confidence in hitting wide open 3s then he becomes a liability.

Angry baby :lol:

heezyo2o · Post #18 » by **heezyo2o** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:29 pm

Caruso was the best dunker on a bulls team that had both Lavine and Derrick Jones jr :hoop:

Post #19 » by **cupcakesnake** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:36 pm

Alex Caruso is one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the NBA. He's so good at defense that I barely care about his offense being poor. The Bulls actually survive when Caruso is on the court.

Austin Reaves is really good too though. I love his skill and decision-making. I think he's been arguably the Lakers best role-player the past 2 years. He's a better all-around player than Caruso, but he doesn't have any high-level skill approaching Caruso's ridiculous defense.

If you had to choose one to add to your team in a playoff series, you pick Caruso. His defense is too good.

Post #20 » by **zimpy27** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 10:54 pm

Angry baby

Caruso is better than Reaves at this point but Reaves may end up being better when he's older.