The Los Angeles Lakers will likely have to take some time figuring out their point guard rotation, but one player who is expected to play a big role is Alex Caruso.
Caruso started out with the team’s G League affiliate South Bay Lakers on a two-way deal but played his way onto the full-time roster with his stellar skill set.
Caruso is perhaps the most underrated part of the team’s roster heading into the 2019-20 NBA season. Although it was a small sample size (final five games), Caruso averaged 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 8.4 assists on 44% from the three-point line against playoff-bound teams. This included a 32-point, 10-rebound, and five-assist performance against the Los Angeles Clippers. This might be unsustainable over the course of a long season, but there’s no denying what he could bring to this team.
Caruso spoke about LeBron James and Anthony Davis and what his role will be alongside them. When talking about James, he not only calls him one of the all-time greats, but argued that James is still the best player in the league right now, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“He makes the game so easy for me, you know? He gets so much attention… I mean, rightfully so. I think he’s the best player in the world. He’s one of the best players the game has ever seen and right now is still the best in the world. So he just makes it easy. He’s a really heady guy, understands the game, has good IQ, and I think me and him can tag along in the same aspect of we both understand how to play and we read off of each other pretty well.”
This is high praise for James coming from a teammate. In addition, Caruso also spoke about Davis and what it’ll be like playing alongside him. He also confirmed that Davis wants to and is fully capable of winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award if he chooses to:
“Kind of the same thing. Just shoot whenever they get doubled and be aggressive and off the ball, just be a great defender and play well in transition. I think this team can be really good defensively. I saw [Davis] made some comments about wanting to be Defensive Player of the Year and he’s more than capable of that, so I think we have the right guards and the right supporting cast around him to be able to make this a really good defensive team.”
Caruso seems very ready for the challenge of playing alongside two of the game’s best players. And if Caruso can replicate some of the magic that he created towards the end of last season, it may not be too long before he ends up in the starting lineup.
It’s a good thing to know Caruso thinks so highly of his teammates, and he’s excited to get to work in helping them achieve their goals. Caruso is going to be a huge part of what the Lakers do this season, and it starts with how well he feeds off those two All-Star players.