Sacramento Kings Trade Targets – Alex Caruso

June 20, 2024

With the finals over, the offseason is officially here. And it wouldn’t be an NBA offseason without a flurry of trade rumors. The rumors are that the Bulls are actively shopping Zach LaVine, someone I wrote about as a Top 5 Trade Option for the Kings. While LaVine brings question marks with his contract and injury history, his teammate Alex Caruso feels like an absolute steal of a trade candidate.

The Bulls will have to work hard to get off of LaVine’s contract, and a way to do that may be attach Caruso to the trade as well. Caruso fits exactly what the Kings (and every team in the league) need. He’s one of the best defensive guards in the game and shot the 3 at a 40.8% clip last season.

His numbers go beyond just 3&D though:

Caruso’s numbers show that he is a player that does a little bit of everything. His 3.8 Rebounds and 3.5 Assists are a great addition to his shooting and defense. He was also one of the best players in the Handoff Playtype last season, which would be a perfect fit with Domantas Sabonis and the Kings offense.

And if you really want to get excited pay extra attention to the defensive stats. We all know Caruso is a great defensive player, but the numbers show that he may be better than we all even think. His 3.7 Deflections led the league, and if we know anything about the Kings coaching staff, it’s that they LOVE deflections.

A quick reminder that De’Aaron Fox was 2nd in the league with 3.6 Deflections per game. The pairing of those two, even if you slot LaVine in with them, would be a tenacious duo on the defensive side of the ball. Throw in the possible lineup of Fox, Keon Ellis, and Caruso, and you bring three high level defenders to the mix to create chaos on the ball and in the passing lanes.

Alex Caruso seems like the epitome of a Mike Brown player, and being able to snag both him and LaVine together in a trade would do wonders for Sacramento.