Two-time NBA All-Defensive Team guard Alex Caruso would have been Stephen Curry‘s complementary partner at Golden State Warriors backcourt.
But the Chicago Bulls were stubborn.
Jake Fischer reported on The Stein Line that the Warriors thought they were getting Caruso during last season’s trade deadline.
“Golden State believed it nearly had a deal for Caruso before the 2024 deadline buzzer sounded, sources said, which would have delivered multiple first-round picks to Chicago,” Fischer wrote.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, the Bulls stubbornly held on to Caruso.
The undrafted Caruso was ultimately traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the offseason for former first-round pick Josh Giddey.
Currently, the Thunder are on top of the Western Conference with a 15-4 win-loss record. They are allowing the lowest field-goal percentage by an opponent this season, with 42.2% allowed.
Caruso has a big hand on that. Before he was held out by a hip injury, Caruso was the best defender in the NBA in terms of opponent’s field goal shooting.
With Caruso as the primary defender, he’s holding his defensive assignment to only 31.2% from the field.
Lowest opponent FG% as the primary defender this season (min. 80 FG defended):
31.2 – Alex Caruso
33.3 – Andre Jackson Jr.
34.0 – Jaime Jacquez Jr.
35.5 – Jeremy Sochan
36.0 – Nic Batum
36.6 – Caris LeVert
37.0 – Amen Thompson
37.3 – Goga Bitadze
37.4 – Victor Wembanyama pic.twitter.com/JFhJ1XbOhb
— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) November 18, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The missed opportunity to grab Caruso forced the Warriors to pivot in the offseason and sign De’Anthony Melton for their full midlevel exception. But just as when Melton is starting to get his groove with Curry in the starting backcourt, the Warriors lost the two-way guard to a season-ending ACL injury to his left knee.
The Warriors have struggled to fill in the void left by Melton as they went 3-4 since his injury.
De’Anthony Melton Expected to Get Traded
Anthony Slater of The Athletic floated Melton’s expiring salary after his season-ending ACL injury as a Warriors trade chip heading into the February trade deadline.
“Melton’s contract, attached to a draft pick, might be able to fetch a capable rotation player in January or February from a team like the Raptors or Nets. The Warriors also have a ton of other mid-sized contracts (Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II, Kuminga) to add to Melton as a building block to make any big or medium-sized deal happen,” Slater wrote.
One trade candidate that perfectly fits into Melton’s $12.8 million expiring salary is Toronto Raptors center Kelly Olynyk, according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.
The 6-foot-11 Olynyk was on the Warriors’ radar leading up to last season’s trade deadline.
“I was told from various NBA executives around the league that Kelly Olynyk was someone the Warriors were targeting at last year’s trade deadline,” Fischer reported on November 22 during his Bleacher Report live stream. “He would fit their system perfectly.”
The Jazz ultimately sent Olynyk to the Raptors at the trade deadline.
Steph Curry Expected to Return vs. Suns
Curry missed the Warriors’ last game — a 105-101 loss to the Thunder on November 27 with bilateral patellofemoral on both knees.
“He’s been banged up the last week,” Kerr told reporters. “His knees have been bothering him.”
Kerr revealed it was Rick Celebrini, the Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, who recommended that Curry take the night off in the clash between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the West.
But Kerr expects Curry to return from a one-game absence against the Phoenix Suns on November 30.
“Hopefully, this gives Steph the time he needs the next couple of days to get ready for our road trip,” Kerr told reporters. “At 36, you’re just going to have more aches and pains. Fortunately, the MRI he had yesterday was negative. He needs some time to clear the tendinitis that’s in his knees right now, and hopefully, the next couple of days will do that.”
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