After breaking the news Thursday, ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski compared the deal to when the Golden State Warriors signed small forward Andre Iguodala in July 2013.
“Oklahoma City has been in pursuit, along with a lot of other teams around in the league, of Alex Caruso for years! They see him fitting seamlessly into their team that was the No. 1 seed in the west,” Wojnarowski told Elle Duncan on SportsCenter. “They’re going to have the best on-ball defense in the league.
“They see Caruso comparable to what the Golden State Warriors did 11 years ago bringing in Andre Iguodala at about the same development point in each organization, both players 30-years-old.”
Iguodala won 2015 NBA Finals MVP and four championships in the Bay Area. Like Caruso thus far, he was selected to two NBA All-Defensive teams, the first squad in 2014 and the second unit in 2011 with the Philadelphia 76ers.
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Following three seasons with Chicago, Texas A&M alumnus Alex Caruso is headed back to the Western Conference after being traded on Thursday.
Following three years with in the Windy City, former Texas A&M combo guard Alex Caruso has been dealt back to the Western Conference.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Chicago Bulls traded the Aggies alumnus on Thursday to Oklahoma City for point guard Josh Giddey, who the Thunder drafted sixth overall in 2021.
After delivering a “Woj Bomb,” the ESPN senior NBA insider noted that Caruso is entering the final season of a four-year, $37 million contract that he signed in August 2021 during free agency. Per Wojnarowski, Caruso “becomes eligible for a four-year, approximately $80M extension,” on Dec. 20.
Caruso was selected to the NBA All-Defensive teams in back-to-back seasons, making the first squad in 2023 and second unit this year. He played 137 games at Texas A&M over four campaigns before going undrafted in 2016.
His first NBA contract was ironically with the Thunder, which he signed on Sept. 23. However, Caruso was waived 24 days later and joined the OKC Blue on Nov. 3, beginning his professional career in the G League.
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Caruso is entering the final year of his deal and becomes eligible for a four-year, approximately $80M extension exactly six months from the date of this trade. The Thunder made the trade with the hope to have Caruso as an integral player for the long-term. https://t.co/ZDO8fL4Js7
Report: Thunder trade Josh Giddey to Bulls for Alex Caruso.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The shocking deal ends Giddey’s three-year tenure with the Thunder. He’s fresh off his worst season as he adjusted from being a primary ball-handler to an off-ball fourth option.
The 21-year-old entered this offseason with a chance to be extended by OKC. That never materialized and Giddey will head to Chicago, where he gets a chance to return to a familiar role of being a point guard with the ball in his hands.
In 80 games last season, Giddey averaged 12.3 points on 47.5% shooting, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He shot 33.7% from 3 on three attempts.
Meanwhile, Caruso strengthens the Thunder’s perimeter defense. The 30-year-old is a seamless fit for OKC and has been named to an All-Defensive Team for the last two seasons.
The 30-year-old has an expiring salary and will be owed $9.9 million next season. The Thunder hope to agree to a long-term extension with Caruso to make him part of their core. He will be eligible to sign a four-year, $80 million deal with OKC in six months.
In 71 games last season, Caruso averaged 10.1 points on 46.8% shooting, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He shot 40.8% from 3 on 4.7 attempts.
New team leadership has declared Williams an expensive sunk cost.
A year ago, Notre Dame alumnus [autotag]Monty Williams[/autotag] received the biggest coaching contract in NBA history. It turned out to be a very bad investment for the Detroit Pistons, who lost a single-season record 28 straight games en route to finishing a franchise-worst 14-68. That will be the only season Williams sees from the bench.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Pistons have fired Williams. This comes less than a month after the hiring of Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations. The Pistons still owe Williams over $65 million.
One thing Williams and Pistons ownership didn’t agree on as highlighted in the USA TODAY report was how to use second-year guard Jaden Ivey, son of Notre Dame women’s basketball coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]. Obviously, that only was the tip of the iceberg.
The Pistons hired Williams after he was fired by the Phoenix Suns, whom he took to the 2021 NBA Finals. His wife also had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Here’s hoping he can take some time off now to focus on the truly important things in life.
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None whatsoever, even though it sure felt like Charania was taking a shot at fellow NBA scoop master Adrian Wojnarowski, who had the Hurley revelation first. You know, the very same Wojnarowski who is McAfee’s teammate at ESPN. In fact, McAfee made the awkward decision of actually praising Charania on air after only the slightest, vague referral to saying he’s “Completely OK with other NBA guys being our [ESPN’s] guy.”
This was certainly a choice:
Shams Charania takes a victory lap on ESPN after new reports from Woj listing JJ Redick as a top Lakers HC candidate.
Then Pat McAfee comes in:
"Shams is our NBA guy. Completely OK with other NBA guys being our guy, but Shams has been our guy for literally half a decade." pic.twitter.com/eBtZokq2s3
I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going on behind the scenes at ESPN. But I can’t imagine the higher-ups were happy to see this apparent Wojnarowski slight enabled by McAfee … live on one of their shows.
After everything, it’s so odd but completely unsurprising to see McAfee essentially feed this NBA scoop reporter beef.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading this morning. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time today.
I remember what it was like when Kendrick Lamar dropped “Meet the Grahams.”
That was the moment the beef between him and Drake ended. It wasn’t even that the song was great — it was just about how cold and calculated it was.
Drake dropped his “Family Matters” diss at 11:00 p.m. on Friday night and had everyone thinking he’d just cooked Kendrick. An hour later, Kendrick drops a YouTube link. The first thing you hear are those piano chords and then, the next thing you know, Kendrick Lamar is reading Drake for filth. Drake could never recover.
Then, here comes Woj with details on the “accelerating” Hurley news with conversations expected to “escalate” in the coming days. Y’all know how the NBA Insider Speak goes — those are fighting words now.
Woj vs. Shams is the NBA media version of Kendrick vs. Drake. Woj put Shams on his first tour, basically! They’ve been battling for scoops ever since they separated. Usually, though, the battle is about who gets the story first.
Here, they kind of have two different stories. Somebody is right and somebody is wrong. It’s one of those “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us” situations.
To be fair to everyone here, a head coaching search is almost always a developing situation. Someone can be in the lead for a job and not necessarily be the ideal candidate for that team. Sometimes, other candidates come out of nowhere. That could easily be the case here with Redick and Hurley.
Hurley’s clearly a much better candidate with, ya know, actual head coaching experience! He doesn’t just talk about his ideas on podcasts — he’s executed them before. That probably makes him the ideal candidate for the job.
So Charania doesn’t necessarily have to be wrong here. He even explained how he got to where he did on Redick while confirming the Hurley news over at The Athletic. Redick was the first candidate to get a face-to-face meeting with the team. By all accounts, LA seriously considered him for the job and certainly still could if this Hurley move falls through (which is possible, by the way).
But hey, man. We’re going to get these jokes off one way or another. Somebody drop the NBA Insider version of “Not Like Us,” please. These virtual streets need it.
A’ja Wilson is your way-too-early WNBA M’VP
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
I mean, honestly, could it be anyone else at this point?
I know Napheesa Collier is having a fantastic season and the Lynx are 7-2 right now. Breanna Stewart is also having a great year with the Liberty. DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are also playing incredibly well for the undefeated Connecticut Sun.
But it can’t be anybody else but A’ja right now. She’s carrying like no one has ever carried before.
Wilson finished with 36 points, 14 rebounds, six steals, two assists and a block against the Stars on Wednesday. She became the first player in WNBA history ever to have at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and five steals in a game, per ESPN.
A'ja Wilson is the first player in WNBA history with 35 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals in a game 😮🔥 pic.twitter.com/CLnJNBC0c4
Like I said, nobody is carrying the way that she’s carrying right now.
It’s still early in the season and the Aces aren’t on the same tear as last season. It’s entirely possible this could change. But if she keeps this play up? It’ll be hard to center the conversation around anyone else but her.
Who will Sean Payton throw under the bus this time?
Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
Another year, another quarterback for Sean Payton to scapegoat after what will probably be another mediocre season in Denver.
According to DraftKings odds, Bo Nix is the favorite to become the Broncos’ starting quarterback this year. Our Robert Zeglinski said that also makes him the favorite to be thrown under the bus by Payton next year.
“Maybe Nix surprises everyone and keeps the Broncos afloat as a playoff contender in a stacked AFC. Crazier things have happened. But that scenario doesn’t feel all that feasible.
When push comes to shove, if Nix struggles — which is understandable because he’s a rookie on an awful team — rest assured that Payton will waste no time throwing him to the wolves in the interest of self-preservation. In that case, it won’t really work because the other options are Jarrett Stidham (gross) and Zach Wilson (yes, he’s still in the league).”
Best of luck, Bo Nix. And the rest of that QB room, too. You’re going to need it.
Quick hits: Why Dan Hurley makes sense in LA … New Vikings unis … and more
Report: NBA closes investigation on Josh Giddey for alleged inappropriate relationship.
The NBA has officially closed its investigation on Josh Giddey for an alleged inappropriate relationship with an underage girl, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
A since-deleted social media post went viral in November that showed Giddey had been in an alleged relationship with an underage girl. Giddey chose not to comment on the allegations in the immediate aftermath.
“I understand the question obviously, but there’s no further comment right now,” Giddey said on Nov. 24.
The NBA opened an investigation into the allegations soon after Giddey spoke publicly. California police followed suit five days later.
The Newport Beach Police Department closed its investigation in January due to its inability to corroborate any criminal activity toward the 21-year-old. The league had a similar conclusion to its investigation.
Giddey concluded his third season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He averaged 12.3 points on 47.5% shooting, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 80 games this past season.
Report: Mark Daigneault named NBCA’s 2023-24 Coach of the Year.
After the Oklahoma City Thunder finished with a 57-25 record and first place in the Western Conference standings, head coach Mark Daigneault has won the NBCA’s Coach of the Year award, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
In his fourth season as the head coach, Daigneault led OKC to the youngest first seed in league history. An impressive jump from last season where they fell a win shy of making the playoffs.
It’s important to note that this is the Coaches Association’s award. The traditional Coach of the Year has not been announced yet, but odds are Daigneault will also be the winner.
Each NBA head coach votes for a single winner for the NBCA’s award named for the late Michael Goldberg.
The Thunder will enter the playoffs with the young core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren headlining the young roster. It’ll be the first of presumably many playoff runs with this trio.
Chet Holmgren convinced Thunder to play through fatigue instead of rest.
After missing last season recovering from multiple foot surgeries, Chet Holmgren has played every game for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season.
This marks a remarkable turnaround for the 21-year-old, who faced questions about his durability after suffering a Lisfranc injury last summer. In 65 games, Holmgren has averaged 16.8 points on 53.5% shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks.
When asked about not missing a game this season on ESPN’s “The Woj Pod,” Holmgren revealed an interesting anecdote from earlier this season about persuading the Thunder to let him play instead of sitting out a contest.
“There was an instance where it was suggested to me (to rest) and credit to our management, our coaching staff and our medical team. They really see this as a partnership and a collaboration,” Holmgren said. “They came to me, they gave me their point of view and they listened to my point of view.
“At the end of the conversation we were able to come to a conclusion, both sides were able to kinda live with that conclusion and I ended up going out there and playing.”
This latest example is just another glance at how the Thunder operate and are willing to listen to their players when it comes to major decisions. Holmgren has played a key role in OKC’s rise to contention this season as part of their young trio with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
Reporters dramatically disagree about how long KAT will miss with his injury.
Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has reportedly suffered a left meniscus injury, which is awful news for the big man.
Towns was named a Western Conference All-Star this season after he missed a large chunk of the last season due to injury. He has played an integral role on the Timberwolves, currently tied for the best record in the West and the second-best record in the NBA.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Towns was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee. Charania reported that the Minnesota star is out indefinitely.
Just in: Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee and is out indefinitely, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. pic.twitter.com/JlPe73PnN9
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, meanwhile, it “remains unclear” how much time Towns will miss due to the meniscus injury. In fact, per Woj, we don’t yet know if the Timberwolves star will miss any time at all.
ESPN Sources: Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has suffered a left meniscus injury, but it remains unclear about how much, if any, time he’ll be required to miss. Towns and team are working to get full understanding of degree of injury and whether it demands immediate action.
“Karl-Anthony Towns has suffered a left meniscus injury, and doctors are evaluating whether that will require the Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star to miss a significant period of time, sources told ESPN on Thursday morning.
Towns is undergoing further evaluation to determine whether an immediate procedure is required, or whether there are rehab options that could return him to Minnesota’s lineup in the more immediate future, sources said.
A decision is expected soon, sources said.”
So to summarize, Charania’s reporting is that Towns is out indefinitely while Wojnarowski’s reporting is that the big could return in the “more immediate future” for the Timberwolves.
That is a bit confusing, of course, because Wojnarowski and Charania are considered the two most trusted basketball news-breakers in the industry.
The two reporters were also formerly coworkers at Yahoo Sports, where Woj was a mentor for Shams before the two became rivals. So it is especially interesting to see these two end up with such wildly different reports about how much time Towns will miss.
In reality, doctors have likely not yet determined the right treatment plan for the former No. 1 overall pick. But until then, this is a wildly important update for Minnesota’s title hopes.
