Tag: Alex Caruso

Should the Chicago Bulls regret not turning Alex Caruso into a mountain of assets?

The Bulls are going nowhere this season. Wouldn’t it be nicer if it was going nowhere with more draft assets?

The Chicago Bulls probably wish they could do their 2024 NBA trade deadline over again. And their 2023 trade deadline. And their 2022 deadline. You get the picture. After injuries further decimated the Bulls’ roster with the season-ending injury to Patrick Williams, it is clear this season is going nowhere. Wouldn’t it be nicer if it was going nowhere with more draft assets for future moves?

That is the question posed in a recent article by Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley, who asked if the Bulls might regret not turning 3-and-D specialist guard Alex Caruso into a mountain of draft assets. “He isn’t someone who the stat sheet thinks would’ve delivered a pile of assets in a deal,” writes Buckley. “In this market, though, he loomed as a top target for seemingly every win-now shopper.”

“His glue-guy game made him a fit with anyone, while his $9.5 million salary, per Spotrac, felt like a fit for any budget.”

“The Bulls could have charged a premium in a Caruso deal and teams still would’ve paid it,” writes the B/R analyst. “Multiple first-round picks were not out of the question.”

“Given Chicago’s low-hanging ceiling, it should have let Caruso, who’s closing in on his 30th birthday, go and received the kind of assets needed to build up this roster to a point where it can actually compete for something of substance.”

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Stein: Golden State Warriors seriously pursued Alex Caruso at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline

It turns out that it was not just Andre Drummond of Chicago Bulls players being furiously pursued by other ball clubs at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline.

It turns out that it was not just Andre Drummond of Chicago Bulls players being furiously pursued by other ball clubs at the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline. According to The Stein Line’s Marc Stein, the Golden State Warriors were in serious talks to acquire the contract of 3-and-D Bulls guard Alex Caruso ahead of the Feb. 8 cutoff for trades in the league’s 2024-24 season.

“The Warriors’ exploration of a potential trade for LeBron James got last week’s headlines, but the more significant development, truthfully, was Golden State’s attempts to pry Alex Caruso away from Chicago,” writes Stein. “The Bulls … wound up giving real consideration to trading Caruso on Deadline Day after insisting for weeks that they wouldn’t.”

“But Chicago’s talks with Golden State ultimately collapsed and then the Bulls, league sources say, informed Philadelphia that they were keeping Andre Drummond, too, with the Sixers pressing to acquire the former All-Star center,” he adds.

Stein notes that one source related that Chicago was “only willing to trade Drummond if they could arrange the acquisition of another center to replace him.”

“When no such trade materialized, Chicago opted to keep Drummond in hopes that his rebounding (8.6 boards in 16.7 minutes per game) will help the 26-29 Bulls secure a Play-In Tournament berth in the East at the very least.”

Sounds competitive, if you ask us. How depressing.

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Bulls, Warriors had ‘serious conversations’ about Alex Caruso trade

The Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors reportedly had “very serious conversations” about a potential Alex Caruso trade.

Another year, another trade deadline gone without the Chicago Bulls making any moves. They could have traded a bunch of different players and gotten good value back in return, but instead, they decided to stand pat. They want to remain “competitive,” even if their definition of the word is simply being a Play-In team.

The Bulls held onto DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond, both of whom are in the final year of their respective contracts, but perhaps the most confusing choice they made was the decision to hold onto Alex Caruso. His value is at an all-time high, and lots of teams were interested in adding him.

According to Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN, the Bulls and Golden State Warriors had “very serious conversations” about a potential Caruso deal. (H/t Clutch Points on Twitter)

“[Warriors] had very serious conversations about Alex Caruso, Kelly Olynyk, teams were calling about Andrew Wiggins… Everybody asked for Jonathan Kuminga and they essentially said, ‘We are never trading him. He is untouchable.,” Shelbourne said.

Caruso has been one of the best 3-and-D guards in the league this year, and while he’s under contract next year as well, the Bulls missed a real opportunity to trade him for a maximum return.

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Bulls asked for 21-year-old forward in potential Alex Caruso trade

The Chicago Bulls reportedly asked for Jonathan Kuminga in Alex Caruso trade talks with the Golden State Warriors.

The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and while a bunch of teams around the league were active, the Chicago Bulls stood pat. Despite their mediocre season and lack of a real path forward, they decided to hold onto their assets instead of capitalizing on the value of the quality players they have on their roster.

A lot of Bulls drew serious trade interest at the deadline, too. Guys like DeMar DeRozan and Andre Drummond were obvious trade candidates, but Alex Caruso was by far the most desired player they could have made available. One team that showed a ton of interest in Caruso was the Golden State Warriors.

However, according to KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the Bulls wanted Jonathan Kuminga back in a deal, an idea that the Warriors “rebuffed.”

“In exploratory trade talks with the Golden State Warriors centered on Caruso, league sources said the Bulls inquired about Jonathan Kuminga’s availability,” Johnson wrote. “That was rebuffed, and the Bulls made clear in talks with all teams that they didn’t want to trade Caruso, especially for a package on perhaps other young pieces like Moses Moody, so they’d need to be floored by an offer to do so.”

It makes sense that the Bulls value Caruso highly, but this is probably the peak of his trade value. By not trading him now, the Bulls will have to consider moving him next year when hee’s on an expiring deal, and if they don’t, he could simply leave in 2025 free agency.

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Rumor: Bulls need to be blown away to trade Alex Caruso; little interest for a DeMar DeRozan deal

It remains to be seen whether the Bulls roll the dice on DeRozan given he can leave in free agency this coming offseason, but Caruso is in demand.

If another team is actually going to land Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso via trade ahead of the league’s 3 p.m. ET deadline on deals this Thursday, Feb. 8, it will not be a steal for whatever club ponies up the steep asking price we are hearing Chicago is demanding for the 3-and-D specialist.

Per recent reporting from the Chicago Sun’s Joe Cowley relates that “there have been plenty of calls about Alex Caruso, but the front office would need an offer that completely blew them away to trade” the in-demand guard to another team. “There have been talks about DeMar DeRozan, but nothing substantial,” writes Cowley.

It remains to be seen whether the Bulls roll the dice on DeRozan given he can leave for nothing in free agency this coming offseason,

But there is a solid case for retaining Caruso should they be able to extract some assets elsewhere to fuel a retool of the roster. And we won’t have long to wait to find out what direction Arturas Karnisovas et al. decide to take.

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Chicago reportedly wants a haul to trade Alex Caruso

And they should!

The Chicago Bulls’ front office may not know what direction they want their franchise to move in. But plenty of other front offices around the NBA are hoping they want to move off of 3-and-D maestro Alex Caruso ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. And hopefully for less than they are reportedly asking for him now.

The Bulls are rumored to be looking for a haul, with a number of interested contenders hoping to pry Caruso loose from Chicago to bolster their backcourt rotations. But the Bulls know they can play these bids against each other — if they decide to deal the in-demand guard at all.

The hosts of the “Locked On Bulls” podcast Haize and Pat The Designer sat down to talk through the Caruso situation on a recent episode, as well as Andre Drummond trade rumors and some general news as well.

To get up to speed with what they have been hearing about the situation, check out the clip embedded above.

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Do the Chicago Bulls actually want to trade Alex Caruso?

Or are they trying to build up his trade value by pretending they want to keep him?

Do the Chicago Bulls actually want to trade guard Alex Caruso? Or are they trying to build up his trade value by pretending they want to keep him? With the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline just a few more days away on Feb. 8, we will not have long to wait to find out.

But does it make sense for the Bulls to hang onto his services if it is going to take at least a season or two to get out of the mess the front office has put the ball club in over the last few seasons? Caruso is one of the hottest names in the league as a potential trade target, given his relatively low salary and two-way capabilities. With no clear direction ahead of them, maximizing his value might be the best option for a rudderless Chicago roster.

The host of the “Chicago Bulls Central” podcast Haize recently weighed in on what he thinks ought to happen on a recent episode.

Check it out above!

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Bulls unlikely to trade DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso ahead of deadline

The Chicago Bulls reportedly may not trade DeMar DeRozan or Alex Caruso ahead of the deadline.

At the start of the year, the Chicago Bulls were expected to be one of the biggest sellers in the league by the time the trade deadline came around. They got off to a horrid start, but since then, they’ve turned their season around. That said, they still don’t look like a team that’s going to compete with the top talent in the Eastern Conference.

Because of that, it would make some sense for the Bulls to trade assets and restructure things at the deadline. His season-ending surgery likely means a Zach LaVine deal is off the table, but they have some other valuable players who could fetch a solid return.

However, the Bulls may not be interested in trading said players. During a recent edition of “The Hoop Collective,” Brian Windhorst of ESPN stated that Chicago likely isn’t going to trade DeMar DeRozan or Alex Caruso at the deadline. (H/t Doric Sam of Bleacher Report)

“The intel in the league right now… is that despite the LaVine injury, the Bulls are not actively looking to trade those guys. … There is not an expectation that DeRozan is gonna get traded, and I have heard ‘0.0’ on Caruso,” Windhorst said around the 28-minute mark of the show.

Caruso is under contract for the rest of this contract and next year, meaning that the Bulls could wait until the summer to move him and still get value.

DeRozan, on the other hand, is in the final season of his contract and hasn’t worked out an extension with the Bulls. If they don’t trade him before the deadline, they risk losing him for nothing this summer. That’s bad roster management.

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Report: Bulls asking price in potential Alex Caruso trade revealed

The Chicago Bulls reportedly want the equivalent of two first-round picks in a potential Alex Caruso trade.

The Chicago Bulls are going to be one of the most talked about teams at the trade deadline this year. Zach LaVine’s season-ending surgery takes him out of the mix, but there are plenty of other players on the roster who are candidates to be moved prior to the February 8 mark.

Guys like DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic may be the most popular names among fans, but Alex Caruso is perhaps the most popular among other teams around the league. The 3-and-D guard is under contract for this season and next, making him an extremely valuable potential trade candidate for any team looking to contend for a title.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Bulls want the equivalent of two first-round picks in exchange for Caruso, if they even decide to trade him at all this season.

“Elsewhere, Chicago continues to have a high asking price on Alex Caruso of the equivalent of two first-round picks to consider moving the All-Defensive guard,” Scotto reported. “Caruso is signed for $9.89 million next season, which is considered a great value across the league, given his production.”

Up to this point, most of the rumblings out of Chicago have stated that they have made Caruso virtually untouchable in trade talks. They want to push for the playoffs, and his production on both ends of the floor will help them with that.

So far this season, Caruso is averaging 10.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 48.6% from the field and 40.5% from behind the three-point line.

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Warriors interested in trading for Alex Caruso ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline

Word is the Pistons were in pursuit of Zach LaVine before his foot surgery also.

Soon, we will be counting the time to the end of the NBA’s 2024 trade deadline in hours instead of days. And with the Chicago Bulls one of the most popular ball clubs in the league as a potential seller ahead of the deadline, rumbles are heating up.

We are hearing word that the Golden State Warriors are making calls about trading for Chicago guard Alex Caruso to help to try to salvage their season. And we have learned that the Bulls were still in the mix with the Detroit Pistons about a potential Zach LaVine swap until his decision to get foot surgery likely ended that possibility.

Where does this leave Chicago in terms of having value to convert to younger players and draft assets ahead of the Feb. 8 moratorium on deals?

The host of the “Chicago Bulls Central” podcast Haize spent some time looking into these questions on a recent episode. Check it out above!

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