Bulls trade Alex Caruso to Thunder for Josh Giddey

Josh Giddey (YouTube)

According to Ben Stinar of Sports Illustrated on Thursday, there was a significant trade in the National Basketball Association. The Oklahoma City Thunder have traded shooting guard Josh Giddey of Melbourne, Australia to the Chicago Bulls for shooting guard Alex Caruso of College Station, Texas.

For Giddey, the Bulls are his second NBA team. He previously played the last three seasons with the Thunder. One asset of Giddey’s game is his versatility. In addition to shooting guard, Giddey can play small forward and power forward.

For Caruso, the Thunder are his third NBA team. In addition to the Bulls, who he played for the last three seasons since 2021-22, Caruso spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, who he played for from 2017-18 to 2020-21. While with the Lakers, Caruso won the NBA Finals in 2020. During six games in the 2020 NBA Finals, a series the Lakers won in six games, Caruso had 38 points, and was a +24 in the Orlando bubble.

In 2023-24, Giddey averaged 12.3 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, and 4.8 assists per game in 80 regular season games. He also had a field goal percentage of .475, a three-point percentage of .337, and a free throw percentage of .806.

Also this past season, Caruso averaged 10.1 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, 1.7 steals per game, one block per game, a field goal percentage of .468, three point percentage of .408, and a free throw percentage of .760. There is no doubt that defense is a strength to Giddey’s game.

It is interesting that the Thunder are trading Giddey the same year that there were allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with a minor. However California police could not confirm any criminal activity by Giddey and determined the case closed.