1. Alex Caruso ($9.5 million)
In the summer of 2021, the Chicago Bulls had arguably their most aggressive offseason in franchise history by dealing away their former young core to acquire players that could support All-Stars Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic in an effort to win now. Some of those moves were lauded, like signing Lonzo Ball. Some were critiqued, such as signing DeRozan. But the one that went under the radar most was inking Alex Caruso to a four-year deal on the Mid-Level Exception.
At the time, I imagine the front office hoped Caruso could be a complementary role player. I doubt they ever expected Caruso would become an All-Defense First Team talent. As one of the best point-of-attack defenders we’ve seen in the last decade, Caruso has dominated on the court and on paper, leading guards in just about every defensive advanced metric there is.
The Bulls’ Alex Caruso just might be one of the NBA’s most underpaid role players.
This deal looked great at the time it was signed, but with the increasing value of role players all around the league, it has only aged better and better as time has progressed. This summer alone, we’ve seen less productive (or at the very least, similarly talented) guards such as Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves, Donte DiVincenzo, and Dennis Schroder get paid significantly more money than Caruso signed for in 2021.
For this reason, it’s no surprise there’s been high demand among contenders for Caruso on the trade market. Fortunately, Chicago’s asking price for the guard has remained exorbitantly high, so we should see the fan favorite back out there on the court for the Bulls again next season. If the front office ever did decide to blow things up, however, Caruso would be an invaluable asset to kickstart a potential rebuild.