Woj: Thunder Trade Josh Giddey to Bulls for Alex Caruso

[QingJames]

Giddey is very, very bad and abjectly useless without the ball in his hands. Caruso is one of the best defenders in the entire league. Masterstroke trade by Presti.

[bwgood77]

I'm surprised people are that low on Giddey. I think he has a ton of potential. The guy is only 21 years old and a solid all around player for that age. Plus the Bulls probably need to start getting younger and Caruso is 30 years old and about to get a fairly sizable contract.

[meekrab]

The more perplexing aspect of this trade is that Lonzo is due to return this season and they also have Coby White, Zach Lavine, Ayo that all play the 1.

Bulls ain’t done dealing imo.

This is not perplexing at all, Zach LaVine has never played a minute of PG for the Bulls and might not even be on the team in October, Lonzo is either Donezo or will be a limited minutes bench player, Coby's best as a 2 guard and Ayo is a fine 7th or 8th player.

You are right that the Bulls must have more moves to make.

Presti continues to build his HOF GMing resume, he's probably lusted after Caruso for years.

[FarBeyondDriven]

95% of the time there's a poll like this after a trade realgm gets it wrong. It's uncanny. Caruso is a 30 y/o journeyman role-player. He's overrated as a defender and he's undersized at the 2 where he's forced to play. Does he have value? Absolutely. Guys like him, Josh Hart, and Derrick White are integral parts of winning basketball teams. But Giddey is a 21 y/o legit starting PG. The only reason this trade looks even at all is because SGA needs the ball in his hands and so doesn't Giddey so they don't compliment each other well. If Chicago lets him run the offense you'll see how wrong you are about this trade. "But his defense!!" Yeah, name the starting PG with good defense. Brunson, Maxey, Trae, Luka, Garland, Cade, Fox, and Steph seemed to be able to make it work just fine. And at least Giddey has versatility due to his size so he's not a total zero like most of these other defensively challenged PGs. Great trade for both teams but value wise, the Bulls knocked it out of the park getting a 21 y/o starting PG and former #6 overall draft pick that they have RFA rights to for a 30 y/o role player with a year left on his contract and becomes a UFA.

This post kind of baffles me. Your criticism of Caruso is so weird. Yes, he's 30. Other than that, he's not a journeyman. At 30, he's going to just his 3rd NBA team. He's not overrated as a defender. He's 6'5, so I really don't get the undersized point. If you had said he's injury prone or a weird fit for a team that already has Dort and Wallace, I would 100% agree. But you ran with points that just seem completely wrong instead of taking the easy layups.

TBH, I hope you're right. Giddey is a good kid who works his ass off and has the potential to be really, really good.

he's 6'3.5" not 6'5" which is on the small side for a SG which he has to play since he has zero PG skills. 3 teams in 8 years and 4 in 9 (can't see OKC paying him $20 million per) if/when he goes elsewhere next year is pretty much a journeyman. I keep hearing about his defense and every time I watch him play he's getting blown by. Maybe I'm just missing the great defense dunno. Only in a league devoid of many good defenders is Caruso a great one.

[Chuck Everett]

he's 6'3.5" not 6'5" which is on the small side for a SG which he has to play since he has zero PG skills. 3 teams in 8 years and 4 in 9 (can't see OKC paying him $20 million per) if/when he goes elsewhere next year is pretty much a journeyman. I keep hearing about his defense and every time I watch him play he's getting blown by. Maybe I'm just missing the great defense dunno. Only in a league devoid of many good defenders is Caruso a great one.

So you believe Caruso made all-NBA defensive team on a mid Bulls team by accident?

[NCHeels2008]

Initially I was surprised OKC got Caruso without adding any picks to the deal, but Caruso is an expiring and could end up being a rental. So I'm thinking that was part of the equation.

He's a great piece for the Thunder, and Giddey will do well with a change of scenery. Good trade for both imo.

Yea IDK why Twitter has been so aggressive that Presti stole Caruso, he traded for a smaller and older guard with no playmaking ability. Giddey needs to work on some things but he's put up solid numbers for his age and big PGs make lineup construction a lot easier.

[Slimjimzv]

95% of the time there's a poll like this after a trade realgm gets it wrong. It's uncanny. Caruso is a 30 y/o journeyman role-player. He's overrated as a defender and he's undersized at the 2 where he's forced to play. Does he have value? Absolutely. Guys like him, Josh Hart, and Derrick White are integral parts of winning basketball teams. But Giddey is a 21 y/o legit starting PG. The only reason this trade looks even at all is because SGA needs the ball in his hands and so doesn't Giddey so they don't compliment each other well. If Chicago lets him run the offense you'll see how wrong you are about this trade. "But his defense!!" Yeah, name the starting PG with good defense. Brunson, Maxey, Trae, Luka, Garland, Cade, Fox, and Steph seemed to be able to make it work just fine. And at least Giddey has versatility due to his size so he's not a total zero like most of these other defensively challenged PGs. Great trade for both teams but value wise, the Bulls knocked it out of the park getting a 21 y/o starting PG and former #6 overall draft pick that they have RFA rights to for a 30 y/o role player with a year left on his contract and becomes a UFA.

This post kind of baffles me. Your criticism of Caruso is so weird. Yes, he's 30. Other than that, he's not a journeyman. At 30, he's going to just his 3rd NBA team. He's not overrated as a defender. He's 6'5, so I really don't get the undersized point. If you had said he's injury prone or a weird fit for a team that already has Dort and Wallace, I would 100% agree. But you ran with points that just seem completely wrong instead of taking the easy layups.

TBH, I hope you're right. Giddey is a good kid who works his ass off and has the potential to be really, really good.

he's 6'3.5" not 6'5" which is on the small side for a SG which he has to play since he has zero PG skills. 3 teams in 8 years and 4 in 9 (can't see OKC paying him $20 million per) if/when he goes elsewhere next year is pretty much a journeyman. I keep hearing about his defense and every time I watch him play he's getting blown by. Maybe I'm just missing the great defense dunno. Only in a league devoid of many good defenders is Caruso a great one.

He's 6'5". He's only played for the Lakers and Bulls, unless you're counting G-League, in which case you may as well count high school, college, youth teams or whatever else. I guess I've been watching a different player, because I've seen a great defender, and I'm a fan of a team with Lu Dort, SGA, JDub, and Chet who are all also very good to great defenders. Are we talking about the same player? Alex Caruso.

EDIT: Maybe this will help? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Caruso

[Dominator83]

You might be right, but I think it has more to do with the Bull's shooting staff. This position is filmsy because I can't say it with 100% certainty. We both can be right. All I know is he is not known for his outside shooting until he is on the Bulls. We might have to agree to disagree.

Yeah, gonna have to say this is more about your point not really being valid. You called the pushback a strawman, but your entire point was that if the bulls could build up a non shooter like lonzo, they could build up a non shooter like Giddey.

Showing lonzo was clearly already a shooter before arriving in Chicago directly blows up your point.

How is shooting 47% and 33% on 3s a non shooter? He's not Curry, but those aren't bad percentages when you take into consideration he shoots 54% and 40% on 3s when he's running the offense, which he will when he's on the Bulls.

And i still fail to see how anybody thinks we should have gotten a better 21 year old prospect than that. Will he need to improve in some areas to end up being worth while? Yes.

But for a 30 year old role player with 1 year left on his deal, were we supposed to get Ant-Man for him? Were we supposed to get the #1 overall pick next week? Maybe we should have asked for SGA instead

Back during the deadline, when Caruso had 2 potential playoff runs left on his deal not 1, Kuminga wasn't even on the table for him. And is Kuminga a better prospect than Giddey? Giddey has 11 career triple doubles. Kuminga doesn't even have that many career Double doubles.

Of course whoever we got was gonna have some flaws that need to be improved. We were trading Alex Caruso not LeBron James.

[NCHeels2008]

95% of the time there's a poll like this after a trade realgm gets it wrong. It's uncanny. Caruso is a 30 y/o journeyman role-player. He's overrated as a defender and he's undersized at the 2 where he's forced to play. Does he have value? Absolutely. Guys like him, Josh Hart, and Derrick White are integral parts of winning basketball teams. But Giddey is a 21 y/o legit starting PG. The only reason this trade looks even at all is because SGA needs the ball in his hands and so doesn't Giddey so they don't compliment each other well. If Chicago lets him run the offense you'll see how wrong you are about this trade. "But his defense!!" Yeah, name the starting PG with good defense. Brunson, Maxey, Trae, Luka, Garland, Cade, Fox, and Steph seemed to be able to make it work just fine. And at least Giddey has versatility due to his size so he's not a total zero like most of these other defensively challenged PGs. Great trade for both teams but value wise, the Bulls knocked it out of the park getting a 21 y/o starting PG and former #6 overall draft pick that they have RFA rights to for a 30 y/o role player with a year left on his contract and becomes a UFA.

This post kind of baffles me. Your criticism of Caruso is so weird. Yes, he's 30. Other than that, he's not a journeyman. At 30, he's going to just his 3rd NBA team. He's not overrated as a defender. He's 6'5, so I really don't get the undersized point. If you had said he's injury prone or a weird fit for a team that already has Dort and Wallace, I would 100% agree. But you ran with points that just seem completely wrong instead of taking the easy layups.

TBH, I hope you're right. Giddey is a good kid who works his ass off and has the potential to be really, really good.

he's 6'3.5" not 6'5" which is on the small side for a SG which he has to play since he has zero PG skills. 3 teams in 8 years and 4 in 9 (can't see OKC paying him $20 million per) if/when he goes elsewhere next year is pretty much a journeyman. I keep hearing about his defense and every time I watch him play he's getting blown by. Maybe I'm just missing the great defense dunno. Only in a league devoid of many good defenders is Caruso a great one.

I like Caruso as a defender! But I think Booker destroying him in the last meaningful series he has played contributed to the Lakers getting cheap and not bringing him back (which, to be clear, I don't agree with).

Booker put up 30/6/5 on 49/43/94 splits. For a guy that's so heralded defensively that's inexcusable.

[___Rand___]

I'm surprised people are that low on Giddey. I think he has a ton of potential. The guy is only 21 years old and a solid all around player for that age. Plus the Bulls probably need to start getting younger and Caruso is 30 years old and about to get a fairly sizable contract.

Me too. Here's a 6'8" point guard who's decent at facilitating. Those don't grow on trees every year. He's young, still got upside, and will improve with age and work ethic (hopefully). Win now move for OKC, and a piece for the future for Bulls, whatever happens with Ball.

[FarBeyondDriven]

This post kind of baffles me. Your criticism of Caruso is so weird. Yes, he's 30. Other than that, he's not a journeyman. At 30, he's going to just his 3rd NBA team. He's not overrated as a defender. He's 6'5, so I really don't get the undersized point. If you had said he's injury prone or a weird fit for a team that already has Dort and Wallace, I would 100% agree. But you ran with points that just seem completely wrong instead of taking the easy layups.

TBH, I hope you're right. Giddey is a good kid who works his ass off and has the potential to be really, really good.

he's 6'3.5" not 6'5" which is on the small side for a SG which he has to play since he has zero PG skills. 3 teams in 8 years and 4 in 9 (can't see OKC paying him $20 million per) if/when he goes elsewhere next year is pretty much a journeyman. I keep hearing about his defense and every time I watch him play he's getting blown by. Maybe I'm just missing the great defense dunno. Only in a league devoid of many good defenders is Caruso a great one.

He's 6'5". He's only played for the Lakers and Bulls, unless you're counting G-League, in which case you may as well count high school, college, youth teams or whatever else. I guess I've been watching a different player, because I've seen a great defender, and I'm a fan of a team with Lu Dort, SGA, JDub, and Chet who are all also very good to great defenders. Are we talking about the same player? Alex Caruso.

no, he's 6' 3.5" w/out shoes. He's on his 3rd team in 8 years. He likely will be on his 4th in 9 years since the chances of OKC paying a 32 y/o role player $20 million are slim. Yeah, we're talking about Alex Caruso..the guy who has averaged 7-3-3 for his career, mostly off the bench until this last season on a team beset with injuries. Good but overrated defender like Dort and Brooks who also somehow have this rep for being good defenders yet get torched all the time. Is he a better defender than many of his peers? Sure, but that's a low bar considering nobody plays defense any longer. The way you talk about him you'd think he was prime Kidd or Payton
EDIT: Maybe this will help? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Caruso

[SlimShady83]

I'm surprised people are that low on Giddey. I think he has a ton of potential. The guy is only 21 years old and a solid all around player for that age. Plus the Bulls probably need to start getting younger and Caruso is 30 years old and about to get a fairly sizable contract.

I bet alot of It Is because of off court drama, not really basketball related - people need to get over It If that's the case.

[andalusian]

This trade is a win-win. Each team got what they needed at the place they are in and what they need to do for their upcoming years. Fantastic job both ways, honestly.

[Vampirate]

I'm surprised people are that low on Giddey. I think he has a ton of potential. The guy is only 21 years old and a solid all around player for that age. Plus the Bulls probably need to start getting younger and Caruso is 30 years old and about to get a fairly sizable contract.

Me too. Here's a 6'8" point guard who's decent at facilitating. Those don't grow on trees every year. He's young, still got upside, and will improve with age and work ethic (hopefully). Win now move for OKC, and a piece for the future for Bulls, whatever happens with Ball.

Take a look at his Free Throws, he just can't get to the line enough to make up for his mid shooting.

[Camby_Bamby]

The only way this trade makes sense is if Caruso is literally the Anti-Christ or some ****. Lol.

Nothing about this makes sense.

[Camby_Bamby]

I’ll never be convinced that Giddy belongs on an NBA roster. He needs to be developing in the G league, but what’s crazy is that I don’t think he’s among the best there either.

[SlimShady83]

The only way this trade makes sense is if Caruso is literally the Anti-Christ or some ****. Lol.

Nothing about this makes sense.

Really, wow ok nice comment

[___Rand___]

I'm surprised people are that low on Giddey. I think he has a ton of potential. The guy is only 21 years old and a solid all around player for that age. Plus the Bulls probably need to start getting younger and Caruso is 30 years old and about to get a fairly sizable contract.

Me too. Here's a 6'8" point guard who's decent at facilitating. Those don't grow on trees every year. He's young, still got upside, and will improve with age and work ethic (hopefully). Win now move for OKC, and a piece for the future for Bulls, whatever happens with Ball.

Take a look at his Free Throws, he just can't get to the line enough to make up for his mid shooting.

Yeah I know. His shooting is off. His shooting is kinda raw like Pascal was at the start, but not as bad. Look at his vision though. He's 21. If he works at it, his shooting can be acceptable in 2-3 years' time. Bulls are going nowhere next couple of years.

[SlovenianDragon]

This doesnt move the needle at all for the Thunder...

Need to wait and see what the rest of their plans are....

But if their goal is to start Caruso thats a mistake... Thunders biggest problem was rebounding...If he starts its going to be a bunch of hobbits and Chet...

If he comes off the bench the trade makes sense since giddey wasnt doing much....

They basically got dort 2.0 who they should have traded last season... Maybe they trade him this season?

Anyways will be interesting to see the rest of the moves the Thunder make and what role they want Caruso to play....

They def need a big man who can gobble dem balls tho ya smell me?

[socal74]

Me too. Here's a 6'8" point guard who's decent at facilitating. Those don't grow on trees every year. He's young, still got upside, and will improve with age and work ethic (hopefully). Win now move for OKC, and a piece for the future for Bulls, whatever happens with Ball.

Take a look at his Free Throws, he just can't get to the line enough to make up for his mid shooting.

Yeah I know. His shooting is off. His shooting is kinda raw like Pascal was at the start, but not as bad. Look at his vision though. He's 21. If he works at it, his shooting can be acceptable in 2-3 years' time. Bulls are going nowhere next couple of years.

what vision? The simple passes every other pg makes? He's a slow footed non shooting big who passes the ball like Ben Simmons except Ben was athletic and an excellent defender