The Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls completed the first trade of the NBA offseason, sending one of the NBA’s best role players to the Western Conference. The Thunder acquired Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for guard Josh Giddey. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski,.
Caruso was a second-straight All-Defensive selection with the Bulls. The 30-year-old is a gifted defender with incredible offensive point ability, great awareness as a help defender and great communication skills. He also averaged a career-best 4.8 three-point attempts per game with Chicago, making a career-best 40.8% of his three-point attempts. He is in the final year of his contract.
It’s shocking that the Thunder got so much value back from Guidi without a draft pick. Guidi, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, was routinely ignored by defenses due to his poor perimeter shooting. Last season, Guidi took three three-pointers per game and made 33.7% of them. He’s good at rebounding and passing, but he’s not a good fit for the Bulls, who are already one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA. Guidi is in the final season of his rookie contract.
Guidi was under investigation by local police and the NBA last season for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with an underage student. Not cooperating with the investigationIn the end, no charges or disciplinary action was taken by the league.
Let’s evaluate this deal from both perspectives.
Thunder’s Alex Caruso trade assessment
Caruso is the type of role player who does all the little things that are needed to help a team win big in the playoffs, and this is a great acquisition for the Thunder no matter what the cost, acquiring him just for Guidi and nothing else would be robbery.
Caruso Led the NBA with 3.7 deflections per game Last season, he was fourth in the league with 1.7 steals. He recovered 73 loose balls.ranked seventh in the league. There is probably no role player in the NBA who makes more hustle plays than Caruso, and his combination of effort and intelligence is nearly unmatched.
Caruso’s defensive communication is hard to quantify, but it’s very clear on video: He was constantly coaching his teammates on where to be and how to help each other.
Advanced statistics back up his impact: Caruso Last season, he was rated +3.4 in EPM, ranking him as the fifth-best defender in the NBA.Caruso was the only regular rotation player on last year’s 39-win Bulls team to finish the season with a positive net rating. With him on the court, the Bulls outscored opponents by 0.3 points per 100 possessions. With him off the court, the Bulls outscored opponents by 3.2 points per 100 possessions.
Caruso’s offense has always been inconsistent, but his willingness and touch to shoot 3-pointers has made him a productive player for extended periods of time. He shot with more confidence than ever last season, and it paid off all over the court. His true shooting percentage of 61.3% was the best of his career.
Caruso would be a great fit alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, and would also be a great mentor for Cason Wallace and the rest of the young Thunder roster. Considering the cost, this is a big win for Sam Presti.
Lightning Grade: A+
Bulls evaluate Josh Giddey trade
Guidi has been a standout player at a young age for the Thunder, but there are some fatal flaws in his game that he has been unable to overcome: His minutes have been consistently cut when it comes to big games in the playoffs, and he was benched in the final two games of Oklahoma City’s second-round losses. Dallas Mavericks.
Guidi has a good combination of size (6’8″) and passing vision. He hits rebounds hard as a rebounder and has some transition skills. Guidi’s issue is that he doesn’t pose much of a threat to defenses as a scorer, both with and without the ball. Not only is he a poor outside shooter, he’s passive. Guidi frequently turned down open shots last season. Eventually, teams stopped covering him in the half court.
Guidi also doesn’t have much power as a driver — he averaged just 2.2 free throw attempts per 36 minutes last season, a surprisingly low number for a tall guard — and his lack of speed and strength has always been a handicap, and a lack of improvement in his jump shot has made him nearly unable to play in high-leverage situations.
The Bulls would have been wise to not make a deal with Caruso, as he seemed like the team’s most valuable trade asset. Rather than targeting future draft picks or trying to clear a low salary (hello, Zach LaVine), the Bulls picked an alienated young player from a great organization. It’s inconceivable that the Bulls would make this deal without giving back any draft picks. Given the allegations against Guidi last season, this is even more untenable.
Guidi has the size and defensive ability to play next to Coby White, but his lack of speed, strength and shooting will be tough to overcome. He doesn’t turn 22 until October, but Chicago already has to sign him to a new contract if they want to keep him beyond this season. The Bulls look to be the NBA’s worst run-focused franchise right now.
Rating: F
