The Oklahoma City Thunder have come to terms with guard Alex Caruso on a 4 year, $81M contract extension the club announced on Sunday.
The deal, which will run through the 2028-2029 campaign, represents a significant pay raise for the 2x All-Defensive team guard who is currently making $9.9M this season. Caruso, who is represented by agent Greg Lawrence, is averaging a career high 1.9 steals per contest as he’s provided another versatile wing defender for OKC.
Oklahoma City, who currently lead the Western Conference with a 22-5 record, have relied on Caruso, alongside Lu Dort and Cason Wallace to form a lockdown trio which has caused nightmares for opposing offences. The Thunder acquired Caruso in a June trade with the Chicago Bulls in exchange for guard Josh Giddey.
The 6’5″ defender previously spent time with the Thunder’s G-League affiliate the Oklahoma City Blue after going undrafted back in 2016. Caruso brings championship experience to a young OKC roster, having won the NBA title as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
Oklahoma City, who have championship aspirations of their own this year, valued the intangibles that Caruso brings to the table, including deflections, while ranking 2nd in the NBA in field goal percentage allowed as a defender amongst players to contest at least 150 shots. As a result, they felt comfortable giving him a $20.25M AAV deal to avoid him becoming a free agent at season’s end.
The Thunder are next in action against the Washington Wizards on Monday night.
Photo: Kerwin Moore. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.