Bulls sign Alex Caruso - 4 years, $37 million

[Mk0]

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Warning NSFW, Graphic Content.

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* It gets downright pornographic at the 3:45 mark. Your welcome.

[TheJordanRule]

Caruso is what we thought Hinrich was. Caruso is more Hinrich than Hinrich. Caruso seems to prioritize penetrating to the rim, and/or finding the open man. Kirk did that occasionally, but Kirk was also an incredible ball stopper who would often pound, pound, pound the ball away without going anywhere as the shot clock wound down. Kirk was pretty frustrating to watch on the offensive side of the ball. Kirk's passing ability was also pretty overrated. He was a system passer whose lack of creativity and vision was obvious from Day 1. We just sat around praying he would get better, giving him entitlement cheers whenever those solid, lame ass system passes led to something. Caruso has enough creativity and vision that I actually want to see him do more, because I'm not sure where his ceiling as a point guard is. Plus, Caruso penetrates and actually has a good touch at the rim. Kirk wasn't a bad shooter, but he was streaky as hell. For every good game Kirk had from the perimeter, there was another game where Kirk couldn't hit the backside of the barn. While their career averages from 3 point distance is comparable, with Kirk having an edge (37.6 % for Kirk versus 36.9 % for Caruso), I'd much rather go to war with Caruso on both ends of the floor. After all, Caruso has more wisdom when it comes to better shot selection (43.1 % from FG, including a TS % of 54.5 versus Kirk's 41.1 % from FG, including a TS % of 51.6) and provides much more fluid movement for our offense. On defense Caruso is an absolute BEAST. Kirk gave us plenty of effort at that end, and often forced his opponents to have bad shooting nights, but Kirk wasn't as smart at wreaking hell in terms of giving us extra possessions and Caruso's athleticism and pressure reaches another level of intensity. Can't believe this guy was so unsung until now. Shoot, even now I don't think he gets the respect he deserves. Much respect to our FO for landing this guy at 9 million. An upgraded Kirk Hinrich who makes less than Kirk did in his prime, at a time when fat contracts are the norm. Absolutely insane haul.

[detlef_schrempf]

Caruso is worth 4 years 74 million. Not 4 years 37 million. You really can’t convince me otherwise - I’ve seen the list of all NBA salaries.

The Lakers are a joke for letting him go at the discounted rate he offered them and really blew it.

[madvillian]

When the Lakers won the chip 2 seasons ago, he came through with timely play after timely play. He'll play some motivated defense and hit a big shot for us every now and then... but does this mean Coby is gone??

Prescient post and nobody dabbed you so let me bump ya.

[oldshoolballer]

Watch on YouTube

Warning NSFW, Graphic Content.

Watch on YouTube

* It gets downright pornographic at the 3:45 mark. Your welcome.

Caruso is one of the most disruptive players I've ever seen.

[samwana]

Caruso is what we thought Hinrich was. Caruso is more Hinrich than Hinrich. Caruso seems to prioritize penetrating to the rim, and/or finding the open man. Kirk did that occasionally, but Kirk was also an incredible ball stopper who would often pound, pound, pound the ball away without going anywhere as the shot clock wound down. Kirk was pretty frustrating to watch on the offensive side of the ball. Kirk's passing ability was also pretty overrated. He was a system passer whose lack of creativity and vision was obvious from Day 1. We just sat around praying he would get better, giving him entitlement cheers whenever those solid, lame ass system passes led to something. Caruso has enough creativity and vision that I actually want to see him do more, because I'm not sure where his ceiling as a point guard is. Plus, Caruso penetrates and actually has a good touch at the rim. Kirk wasn't a bad shooter, but he was streaky as hell. For every good game Kirk had from the perimeter, there was another game where Kirk couldn't hit the backside of the barn. While their career averages from 3 point distance is comparable, with Kirk having an edge (37.6 % for Kirk versus 36.9 % for Caruso), I'd much rather go to war with Caruso on both ends of the floor. After all, Caruso has more wisdom when it comes to better shot selection (43.1 % from FG, including a TS % of 54.5 versus Kirk's 41.1 % from FG, including a TS % of 51.6) and provides much more fluid movement for our offense. On defense Caruso is an absolute BEAST. Kirk gave us plenty of effort at that end, and often forced his opponents to have bad shooting nights, but Kirk wasn't as smart at wreaking hell in terms of giving us extra possessions and Caruso's athleticism and pressure reaches another level of intensity. Can't believe this guy was so unsung until now. Shoot, even now I don't think he gets the respect he deserves. Much respect to our FO for landing this guy at 9 million. An upgraded Kirk Hinrich who makes less than Kirk did in his prime, at a time when fat contracts are the norm. Absolutely insane haul.

thank you for picking the kirk myth apart!


caruso is awesome, caruso and lonzo together is a bliss to watch how they wreak havoc to opposing backcourts.

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[League Circles]

No joke, I actually had never heard of Caruso before we signed him, which is hilarious because a decade ago I could have named almost every player in the league and their contract details. This guy is amazingly good and proof positive that "role players" and chemistry are way more important for winning than "production". Love this guy on a team full of players I love. What a season we have developing here.

[Wingy]

Caruso is worth 4 years 74 million. Not 4 years 37 million. You really can’t convince me otherwise - I’ve seen the list of all NBA salaries.

The Lakers are a joke for letting him go at the discounted rate he offered them and really blew it.

If you rule out rookie deals...perhaps the best value contract in the league. Probably still up there if you include rooks.

(Edit...forgot about max players like Giannis.)

[Jvaughn]

We went from having no good defensive guards last year to having 2 lockdown guards who should be locks for defensive team this year.

[sco]

I'll be optimistic that his hammy heals quickly. The Bulls shouldn't let him mess with it or he'll miss even more time.

[Ctownbulls]

How much would Caruso get if he went back on the market now? 4/55?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[sco]

How much would Caruso get if he went back on the market now? 4/55?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

IMO, he'd get starting PG $. So more.

Not that I ever want to trade him, but curious what folks think we could nab in trade?

[Mk0]

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[The 6ft Hurdle]

Caruso is what we thought Hinrich was. Caruso is more Hinrich than Hinrich. Caruso seems to prioritize penetrating to the rim, and/or finding the open man. Kirk did that occasionally, but Kirk was also an incredible ball stopper who would often pound, pound, pound the ball away without going anywhere as the shot clock wound down. Kirk was pretty frustrating to watch on the offensive side of the ball. Kirk's passing ability was also pretty overrated. He was a system passer whose lack of creativity and vision was obvious from Day 1. We just sat around praying he would get better, giving him entitlement cheers whenever those solid, lame ass system passes led to something. Caruso has enough creativity and vision that I actually want to see him do more, because I'm not sure where his ceiling as a point guard is. Plus, Caruso penetrates and actually has a good touch at the rim. Kirk wasn't a bad shooter, but he was streaky as hell. For every good game Kirk had from the perimeter, there was another game where Kirk couldn't hit the backside of the barn. While their career averages from 3 point distance is comparable, with Kirk having an edge (37.6 % for Kirk versus 36.9 % for Caruso), I'd much rather go to war with Caruso on both ends of the floor. After all, Caruso has more wisdom when it comes to better shot selection (43.1 % from FG, including a TS % of 54.5 versus Kirk's 41.1 % from FG, including a TS % of 51.6) and provides much more fluid movement for our offense. On defense Caruso is an absolute BEAST. Kirk gave us plenty of effort at that end, and often forced his opponents to have bad shooting nights, but Kirk wasn't as smart at wreaking hell in terms of giving us extra possessions and Caruso's athleticism and pressure reaches another level of intensity. Can't believe this guy was so unsung until now. Shoot, even now I don't think he gets the respect he deserves. Much respect to our FO for landing this guy at 9 million. An upgraded Kirk Hinrich who makes less than Kirk did in his prime, at a time when fat contracts are the norm. Absolutely insane haul.

And sad to say that Coby White is whom Ben Gordon haters thought Ben Gordon was --- a streaky player who could make a difference but was useless when the shot wasn't dropping.

[nomorezorro]

How much would Caruso get if he went back on the market now? 4/55?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

pretty easy to make the case he deserves more money than lonzo. no-brainer that he’s worth more than marcus smart, who just got a 4/77 contract extension. really hard to overstate how good a signing caruso has been so far

i really was blindsided by the impact he had. from what i read this summer, my takeaway was “oh, good point of attack defender, that’ll take some pressure off vuc and help out zach/demar.” he’s slotted into that thad young slot of “role player you could argue is the most important guy on the team,” complete with some advanced metrics that actually back that hot take up. the energy is just different when he’s on the court; he’s legit the qb of the defense and it really elevates the team as a whole

[PrimzyBulls81]

Im so happy he is proving soo many people wrong haha.. I loved his signing and I knew he will have big impact, hustle, IQ, defense, energy, experiance, offense when needed...

I just hope his injury aint bad..

[CaPiTanAK]

They need to give AC a week off and keep him on a minute restriction for another 3-4 weeks aka max 22 mins per game in order for AC to heal properly.

[Wingy]

I'll be optimistic that his hammy heals quickly. The Bulls shouldn't let him mess with it or he'll miss even more time.

Agree...hammy’s are no joke. Just ask your fantasy football team. New training staff and FO/BD better save him from himself and be conservative.

In the short term, that could helps us with the Coby/Ayo conundrum. Opens minutes so we can keep developing Ayo, and hopefully get Coby either on track, or shown to the league that he’s healthy enough for their team.

[FriedRise]

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Newsflash: we now have medical staff who’s actually doing their job!

[sco]

Read on Twitter

Newsflash: we now have medical staff who’s actually doing their job!

Honestly, I don't think he should have set foot on the court. He probably added a few games to his recovery time.