The Thunder swapped former sixth overall pick Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso in the 2024 offseason, and the trade was a smashing success. Caruso instantly raised Oklahoma City’s defense to another level while providing championship experience during the Thunder’s title run. 

The 31-year-old is who he is at this point, but there are still some minor upgrades that could be made. 

Finishing 

Caruso shot 41.1% from 3-point range in the playoffs and hit numerous huge triples. He was arguably the Thunder’s most reliable perimeter shooter outside of Isaiah Joe. 

His finishing at the rim was shaky, though. The veteran only made 56.8% of his playoff shots within three feet of the basket. For context, Nicolas Batum shot 57.1% in this area during the regular season and ranked 223rd of 231 qualified players, per Basketball Reference. 

Whether it was trying to score in transition or cutting to the basket, Caruso smoked too many layups and couldn’t convert at a respectable rate. Bad luck with bounces on the rim played a role, but he also forced up shots that had too much juice off the backboard. 

An uptick in efficiency around the basket would swing a few points here and there, which could be the difference in the game. 

Late-Game Fouls 

It’s time to nitpick because Caruso does not have many flaws that he can realistically address. This choice applies to perhaps 10 total possessions across the entire playoffs, but he could cut down on his untimely late-game fouls. 

Caruso plays defense with unmatched intensity, passion and physicality. While that’s an enormous advantage for the vast majority of the game, there were times when he got overaggressive going for a steal in crunch time and unnecessarily fouled the opposing team. These fouls were back-breakers because they bailed out the offense when all Oklahoma City needed was to waste clock and force a tough shot. 

Becoming better at recognizing key situations and avoiding tunnel vision are quality goals for him. With that being said, Caruso’s level of intensity isn’t something that can be flipped on and off like a switch, so the Thunder might just have to live with these unfortunate fouls. 

Lobs  

This is nitpicking to an extreme extent, but there isn’t much else to say about Caruso’s areas of improvement. 

Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren were both underutilized as lob threats last season. Oklahoma City needs to find more ways to score when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rests, and this action can help. If Caruso makes strides as a lob-thrower, then it opens up another dimension to his offensive contributions. 

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