At the age of 27, he was abandoned by the team, but he won 118 million yuan, becoming the number one vanguard in the playoffs. Do you regret it when the Lakers?

Although they were once in a tough battle, the Thunder still withstood the pressure. The whole team went all out in the tiebreak battle and finally defeated the Nuggets with a huge advantage of 32 points. After 9 years, they returned to the stage of the Western Conference Finals. There is no doubt that in this game, Alexander, Jaylen Williams and Chet Holmgren performed well, and was the key man in the team's ability to win the tiebreak. But the other person on the bench is also worthy of recognition, and he is 31-year-old Alex Caruso. This former Lakers player was abandoned by the team in the summer of 2021. However, after leaving Los Angeles, he achieved great success. While winning a contract of 118 million, he also became the number one vanguard in the playoffs. Let’s take a look at what Caruso has experienced in the past 4 years!

1.27 was abandoned by the Lakers and discovered by the Bulls at a low salary.

Time returns to the summer of 2021. In the just-concluded season, the Lakers, as the defending champion, failed to withstand the pressure. Due to the team's injury wave, despite the overall strength of the lineup, they were still defeated by the Suns and were eliminated in the first round. Therefore, the team also began to think about rebuilding a new championship lineup. And the team was in trouble when facing Horton Tucker and Caruso. Both of them were good defensive players and made more or less certain contributions in the team's 2020 championship journey. However, considering that Caruso is 27 years old and Tucker is younger and seems to have more potential, the Lakers give up Caruso. Unexpectedly, this was the worst decision, and the Lakers have since lost the best outside defense gate. After Caruso flowed into the free market, he also received many offers from teams. However, at that time, he did not play much time with the Lakers and his overall data were relatively average, so he was constantly undercut. In the end, the Bulls' four-year, $37 million contract was the winner and successfully won Caruso.

In the first year of coming to Chicago, Caruso was immediately appreciated by the team. Although his personal offensive ability was indeed slightly inferior, his defense was too amazing. The Bulls' backcourt lineup at that time was quite luxurious. In addition to Caruso, there were Lonzo Ball, Zach Laven and Demar DeRozan. They had both good offensive abilities and strong defensive abilities. If it weren't for the injury factor, they would have definitely achieved something. Let’s talk about Caruso, in the 21-22 season, he averaged 7.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Not only did he have excellent defense, but his organization and offense were improved. But unfortunately, when Caruso was in the rising period of his career, the Bucks' Grayson Allen made a huge defense, causing Caruso's right wrist to fracture and eventually had to undergo surgery. While the fans were crazily criticizing Allen, they also felt sorry for Caruso. After all, this injury was a big blow to his career.

2. Continued his outstanding state and became the first defensive vanguard.

Just when everyone was regretting Caruso, after returning in the 22-23 season, fans were surprised to find that this guy was not only not troubled by injuries, but also upgraded after quit. When he returned to the arena, he still maintained an extremely positive defensive attitude, and the offensive end was also constantly improving. This was undoubtedly a timely help for the Bulls, who were suffering from the injury wave at that time. In the 22-23 season, Caruso averaged 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Although the team failed to enter the playoffs and his personal data was quite average, Caruso's defense was real. And what is even more rare is that his defense is extremely aggressive, but he did not have any dirty moves at that time. Whenever there is no game, in addition to daily training, he would carefully study the offensive habits of each counterattack player to formulate a defense method. In the end, after the end of this season, Caruso also successfully won the favor of the league. He was selected for the first time in his career to the best defensive first team of the season. There is no doubt that this is the best recognition of his ability.

And in the 23-24 season, Caruso further gained the trust of the team. His playing time increased to 28.7 minutes per game, setting a career-high record. At the same time, the regular season attendance was also a career-high 71 games, and he made 57 starters. All of these demonstrated the importance of Caruso to the Bulls at that time. And you should know that Caruso was already 29 years old at that time, and only at this age became a stable starter, which is quite inspiring. Caruso continued his previous excellent form, with a per game increasing to 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals, and his three-point shooting percentage was also a career-high 40.8%. He is already one of the best 3D players in the league. Although the Bulls missed the playoffs this year, Caruso's perfect performance still made him selected for the second team of the season's best defensive team and was successfully elected as the winner of the Best Fighter of the Year, which was the pinnacle of Caruso's career.

3. After 8 years, he returned to Russia and became a key figure in the team.

Last summer, the Thunder developed a huge interest in Caruso, and eventually they traded Josh Gidey back to Caruso from the Bulls. After losing the election in 2016, Caruso briefly signed a contract with the Thunder, so he was very excited to return to Russia after eight years. More importantly, after Caruso came to the team, the senior management directly issued a four-year contract worth $81 million, leaving him here in advance.. It has to be said that the Thunder have a good vision. Caruso not only outputs 7.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals in the regular season, but in the playoffs, he has become the key teacher of the team. Average of 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game, plus a 41.7% three-point shooting percentage, this is the data sheet Caruso handed over in the playoffs. What's even more terrifying is that his defensive efficiency ranks among the top three in the league. Under his defense, the shooting rate of players facing him will drop by 7.3%, which is a very amazing achievement and the key to the Thunder's ability to enter the Western Conference Finals. Looking back on the past four years, Caruso has truly achieved his latecomership and staged an extremely inspiring story.