In an annual league survey, the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the board in three exciting categories, such as NBA’s 2025 Most Valuable Player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a team with the most promising core, and most underrated acquisition in Alex Caruso ahead of his Thunder home debut, as NBA GMs heavily favored the 2024-25 Thunder. After making his Thunder preseason debut in a 112-107 win against the San Antonio Spurs, Caruso, who will play a critical role on his new team, looks forward to playing in front of his new home crowd on Wednesday.

After Monday’s win, Caruso talked about making his Thunder debut at the Paycom Center.

“[I’m] really excited to get the first home game under my belt,” Caruso said. “It’s what everyone’s preached since the trade in June, just how great the home fans are.”

As for getting acclimated with his new teammates and surroundings, Caruso’s having a blast. He’s talked about the light-hearted sessions, when necessary, alongside a prominently 26-and-under squad and the opposite of that while keeping a healthy balance between team bonding and reaching team goals.

“It’s good. I’m just trying to learn from these guys. They’ve obviously had a lot of success here, and I’ve had success otherwise. For the most part, [I’m] just trying to learn the first couple of weeks that I’ve been here,” Caruso added. “They do keep it light. They all talk about the age difference. I’m not that old. But all these guys are really young. So, they have a lot of energy. They’re serious when it matters, but when it’s not, they keep it light. So, just trying to keep in line with them and find the rhythm.”

So far, the Thunder are off to a good start. Caruso finished the night with five points, five assists, one steal, and one block in 17 minutes.

Aaron Wiggins on ‘elite’ defensive trio led by Thunder’s Alex Caruso

Alex Caruso is pictured during the Thunder media day at the Paycom Cente
NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Aaron Wiggins believes the Oklahoma City Thunder’s defensive trio led by Alex Caruso is “elite” and can compete with any team in the NBA. According to Wiggins, Caruso, Lu Dort, and Cason Wallace will be devastating opposing offenses this upcoming season.

“Talk about point-of-attack defenders; those guys are the elite of the elite. Cason Wallace, I’d throw him in there, too,” Wiggins said. “You match them up with anybody with the ball in their hands and almost count on them to get any stop.”

Alex Caruso makes his Thunder home debut against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.