6 non-star trades Lakers can make to contend
Non-star trades Lakers can make to contend No. 4: Alex Caruso
The Lakers shouldn’t have to trade for Alex Caruso, but alas, they chose to pay Talen Horton-Tucker and dodge the luxury tax over re-signing Caruso in 2020. Since leaving Los Angeles, all Caruso has done is reinforce his status as one of the best defenders in the world, and he’s pairing that with the best shooting season of his career.
Caruso is about as plug-and-play as a player can get, and while he won’t solve the Lakers’ offensive issues, he is such a dynamic defender it may not even matter. A defense built around Anthony Davis in the paint and Caruso on the perimeter sounds like an absolute nightmare. Throw in LeBron James and possibly Jarred Vanderbilt, and the Lakers would be able to field the best defensive lineup in the league.
However, landing Caruso won’t come cheap. He’s on a very team-friendly contract at $9.4 million this season and has an additional year at $9.89 million. Every team in the league could use Caruso, and just about every team in the league would also love his contract. Sending the Bulls pick swaps in 2029 and 2030 sounds like a massive cost, but pick swaps are misunderstood as assets. The Lakers won’t be without a pick in either season, and they’re only very valuable if one team is awful or they’re separated by some distance in the standings.
The Bulls could get safer assets for Caruso, but the upside of Lakers pick swaps in 2029 and 2030 should be too enticing to pass up. There’s always a chance they amount to nothing, but there’s a decent enough chance they’ll be premium picks to roll the dice.
To make the money work, the Lakers will have to pull the plug on the Gabe Vincent experiment before it ever really began. His $10.5 million salary is nearly identical to Caruso’s, and he’ll be a solid fit for the Bulls when he comes back from injury as a veteran guard. If he performs well, he could easily be flipped for more future assets, but even if he flops, his contract isn’t a major hindrance to any of their future plans.