One of the most exciting new additions that the Chicago Bulls front office went all out to land this summer is the former Los Angeles Lakers defensive standout point guard and ex-Texas A&M Aggies star, Alex Caruso. “White Mamba 2.0” was a defensive staple to some talented Lakers’ teams, including one that won an NBA Title, in the last couple of seasons.
Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley inked Caruso to a four-year contract worth a total of around $37 million (around $9.25 million in average annual value). The Bulls apparently way outbid Rob Pelinka and the Lakers this summer in free agency to sign Caruso.
Head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls needed some help on the perimeter defensively heading into next season. The Bulls did get some help in the backcourt unit with the big-time sign-and-trade deal that went down with the New Orleans Pelicans to land restricted free agent point guard Lonzo Ball this summer.
Chicago Bulls will get a solid defensive boost by signing Alex Caruso this summer
But you can’t understate the value that Caruso will bring to the table for Donovan and the Bulls with his solid defensive ability and his outside shooting. Donovan can’t have enough good on-ball defenders with the Bulls at this point, and more capable floor spacers.
Yet, what we’re looking into here specifically to Caruso is the type of defensive ability he brings for the Bulls heading into next season. It’s not just other second unit guards that the Lakers used Caruso in situationally as a lockdown defender. He defended some of the top guards/scorers in the NBA in the last few seasons.
Here’s a look into three NBA stars that Caruso was able to shut down defensively in his four season-long career in the league thus far.