It’s been reported by Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN that Alex Caruso will be returning to the Los Angeles Lakers on a two-year, $5.5 million deal. The news follows two other signings from earlier today: DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo.
Alex Caruso was a restricted free agent following the Lakers’ qualifying offer that was extended to him on June 26th. Caruso will be the team’s third true point guard, joining the aforementioned Rondo and former Golden State Warrior, Quinn Cook.
Caruso permanently joined the Lakers’ roster towards the end of the year while still on his G-League two-way contract. He became a fan favorite as he was arguably out-performing Rajon Rondo down the final stretch (Lonzo Ball was injured during the entire final stretch to the season).
Fans will almost certainly be yearning for Caruso to at least get consideration for the Lakers’ starting point guard job, but it remains to be seen if that’ll happen. Rajon Rondo is certainly a favorite of the front office and, even more importantly, also a favorite of LeBron James and Anthony Davis
No matter what, Alex Caruso has earned every bit of that two-year, $5.5 million deal, and should at least be a rotational player. He will look to build off his 2018-19 season, where he averaged 9.2 PPG, 3.1 APG, 1.0 SPG on 21.2 MPG.
alex will start at PG. He is an excellent defender and is a pass-first model. I will miss Lonzo, but with the team Rob has put together Alex should be more than adequate. Alex, Caldwell-Pope, McGee, and Davis will be a formidable defense, perhaps even inspiring LBJ to put some effort into that end of the floor. LBJ and Davis will be backed up by the Kuz who is working hard this offseason to improve his handle and his defense. Everyone gets joy out of running so all Frank has to do is convince the fellas that if you play grreat D you will be rewarded with lots of fast break opportunities. With all the new parts, it will take some time to totally mesh, but by the all-star break they should be dominant. The great battle of LA will be fun to watch unfold, but last time I knew, Big beats Small in this sport, and we have five more-than-competent bigs, and that isn’t even counting the freight train that is LBJ. It is hysterical to see opponents running for the hills when LeBron drives the lane.