Why excitement for Alex Caruso should dwarf any sadness about Josh Giddey

Thunder general manager Sam Presti calls new guard 'a colossal competitor.'

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

OKLAHOMA CITY — Sam Presti has written hundreds of reports over the years about prospects the Thunder might draft.

Heck, the reports might number in the thousands.

But almost a decade after filing his assessment of Alex Caruso, Presti still remembers part of what he scrawled down.

"This guy could probably kick a 50-yard field goal, catch a deep fly ball on the warning track, throw a football 70 yards and kick someone's ass in cards," Presti wrote.

"I just think he's a universal competitor."

Presti was proven right, first when Caruso spent a year with the Thunder's G-League team, then as he rose through the NBA ranks to become one of the league's most coveted role players.

The Thunder coveted him enough to do a deal to bring him back. On Thursday, Presti and the Thunder pulled off the first big trade of the summer, sending starter Josh Giddey to Chicago in exchange for Caruso.

Lots of folks want to talk about Giddey, the No. 6 pick in the draft three years ago and a mainstay in the Thunder starting lineup until the final games of the playoffs. The Thunder released a statement from Presti on Friday morning that said, in part, they had decided it would be best for Giddey to come off the bench next season "to maximize his many talents and deploy our team more efficiently over 48 minutes."

When that plan was outlined to Giddey, "it was hard for him to envision.

"And conversations turned to him inquiring about potential opportunities elsewhere," Presti said in the release.

But here's the thing: didn't everyone suspect Giddey was on the trade block when the Thunder tipped off Game 5 against the Mavs?

That's the first time Giddey came off the bench ever in his Thunder career, and while that seems like a big deal, it was just a public admission of what everyone could see — Giddey didn't fit anymore. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't the Thunder's fault. But the team around him had evolved to the point where his game didn't mesh.

That he would be traded this offseason seemed a foregone conclusion.

Giddey's departure isn't the headline of this trade.

Caruso's arrival is.

He is a player that NBA insiders have said was among the most sought-after players this offseason. When it was announced that the Thunder and Bulls were making the trade straight up, with no draft picks or other assets involved, there was shock that Chicago didn't get something more than just Giddey.

That's not a knock on Giddey.

That's a reflection of how good Caruso is.

He's a two-time NBA All-Defensive honoree. He can guard four positions. He can get into passing lanes. He can suffocate scorers.

Sounds like a more well-established Lu Dort, right?

But now Caruso will be teaming with Dort, Chet Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, who were the core of a Thunder defense that was one of the best in the league this past season. Think how different that playoff series against the Mavs might've been with Caruso. Maybe the Thunder still wouldn't have won it, but life would've been even more difficult for Luka, Kyrie and Co.

Plus, Caruso is an asset on offense. Now, he's not in the same category as SGA or J-Dub or Chet, but Caruso is a splendid passer, a solid off-the-dribble decision maker and a dependable shooter. He's not as good a passer as Giddey, who is world-class in that category, and their decision-making is fairly comparable, but Caruso is a better shooter.

He hit of 40% of his shots from behind the arc this past season on a career-high 5.9 attempts per 36 minutes.

Who knows? Maybe the Thunder can convince him to shoot even more threes.

Taking coaching would track with what the Thunder saw last time Caruso was here. The Thunder brought Caruso in as a training camp invitee before the 2016-17 season. Even though he didn't make the team, he impressed enough people to be offered a two-way deal with the G-League Blue.

(His coach during the year he spent with the Blue: Mark Daigneault.)

I asked Presti during a Friday morning Zoom press conference what he remembered of Caruso's time in OKC.

"We got him here, and he was an open mind," Presti said. "He was a learner.

"Then you watch the career he's grinded out, it's all about the team. It's all about the technicalities and a curiosity about his own game and what it is he does well."

Truth be told, those characteristics were part of what caught Presti's eye when Caruso was still a prospect. Presti admitted he never explicitly went to watch Caruso play when he was a standout at Texas A&M. Whenever Presti saw Caurso, it was always because the general manager was there to scout someone else.

"However, he always ended up being one of the best players or the top players in the game," Presti said. "(It was) so consistently that it made you question whether or not we should be focused on him."

Presti has long been a fan.

Now, he gets to have Caruso on his team.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to have him," Presti said.

(All of it makes me think of Al Horford and Chris Paul, a couple of players who Presti always admired, then found a way to get to Oklahoma City. He takes pride in having had those players wear the Thunder uniform.)

Presti is excited, and frankly, Thunder fans should be, too. If you want to be a bit bummed about Giddey's departure, that's fine, but your enthusiasm about Caruso's arrival should be greater.

Much, much greater.

"I mean, he's a colossal competitor," Presti said, "and we want to have as many of those guys as we can in the building."