Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso has developed somewhat of a cult following.
Caruso, despite seeing fairly limited playing time as a depth piece in L.A.'s backcourt, garnered plenty of All-Star attention during the fan vote, and he has popped up on plenty of highlight reels due to his sneaky athleticism.
However, Caruso is also attracting some interest from rival teams with less than 24 hours to go before Thursday's NBA trade deadline.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported “multiple teams” have asked about Caruso's availability:
Multiple teams are inquiring about the availability of Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 5, 2020
One of those teams might be the New York Knicks. Ian Begley of SNY reported the Knicks and Lakers exchanged names—including Caruso and Knicks second-year guard Allonzo Trier—before former Knicks president Steve Mills was fired on Tuesday afternoon:
Something else to note on the Knicks and Lakers: before Knicks president Steve Mills was let go, New York and the Lakers touched base on potential trades, sources say. Among the players discussed wereAllonzo Trier andAlex Caruso, per SNY sources. Talks at that time didn't advance, per sources.
Caruso has been fairly steady in his bench role.
The former Texas A&M standout is averaging 5.5 points, 1.8 assists and 1.6 rebounds in just over 18 minutes per game through his first 46 games. Caruso is also shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc on nearly two attempts per game, and he is averaging 2.1 steals per 36 minutes.
Caruso has shown he is capable of producing with higher usage. He averaged close to 9.2 points, 3.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 25 games with the Lakers last season.
Regardless of what the Lakers do with Caruso, they will likely need to shed some salary if they hope to acquire the likes of wings Marcus Morris or Andre Iguodala.
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