Chicago Bulls: 3 studs the fans should be thankful for

Studs that Chicago Bulls fans should be thankful for: Alex Caruso

This was a difficult pick for the third Bulls player to be thankful for to start off this list. Honorable mentions here included the likes of star center Nikola Vucevic, point guard Lonzo Ball, and forward Derrick Jones Jr.

The importance that the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Alex Caruso brings to the table for Donovan and the Bulls became apparent when he was out with injury in the Nov. 22 loss to the Pacers. That was the first game that Caruso missed for the Bulls this season. And his two-way value to the Bulls’ backcourt unit proved to be paramount after we saw what it was like without him.

In hindsight, it was a fantastic move by the Bulls’ front office to sign Caruso the four-year contract worth a total of around $37 million during the offseason. At the time, it looked to be a pretty lofty price to pay for Caruso, but a move that was necessary to help build out this bench.

Now, Caruso is outperforming that contract with his two-way value to this rotation. Caruso has proved to be one of the best on-ball perimeter defenders in the NBA while maintaining an efficient presence as a secondary initiator and facilitator on offense for the Bulls.

So far this season, Caruso is leading the NBA in steals per game, at 2.3. He also leads the league in total steals (41) and steal percentage (3.7) up to this point.

Caruso is doing a little bit of everything for the Bulls so far this season. His three-point shooting still needs to pick up a bit, but the rest of his game looks solid thus far. Caruso has averaged around eight points per game, four rebounds, four assists, and 0.5 blocks. That’s really solid production for a guard that has mostly come off the bench for Donovan and the Bulls so far this season.