The Los Angeles Lakers apparently did not even try to keep Alex Caruso, who signed a four-year deal with the Chicago Bulls, worth $37 million, earlier this week. Reportedly, the 27-year-old shooting guard was not getting enough attention from the team.
“I’d heard some stuff going into free agency that, for whatever reason, Alex (Caruso) was not feeling the love from the Lakers, in terms of the communication and the connectivity,” Sam Amick said on The Athletic NBA Show, per HoopsHype.
According to Ramona Shelbourne, the Lakers were happy for Caruso and thankful for what he has done for the team but just could not offer him a contract that he was asking even if it was lower than for what he signed with the Bulls. “They looked at Caruso and said, ‘We can go to $7 million a year, but above that it gets too cost-prohibitive,’” Shelbourne told Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective podcast.
Last season, which was Caruso’s fourth year with the Lakers, he averaged 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
