Alex Caruso is entering the final year of his contract with the Chicago Bulls, and teams are hoping the Bulls finally make him available this summer if they aren’t able to sign him to an extension.
Caruso is highly coveted because he is one of the NBA’s best and most versatile perimeter defenders, earning second team All-Defense honors this season, and his current contract, paying him just shy of $10 million next year, is an incredible value. Ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline, teams made a strong push for Caruso, but the Bulls rebuffed every offer. Among those was an offer that included a top-10 pick in this year’s Draft, as well as a strong effort from the Warriors to bring Caruso to the Bay, per Will Gottlieb of CHGO.
The Bulls took calls on Caruso, but never made them. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Bulls have received offers from multiple teams, consisting of multiple protected first-round picks. One of those deals included a pick in the top-10 of the 2024 Draft, the source said. The Golden State Warriors were among teams who made a strong offer for Caruso, multiple sources confirmed.
Even considering the relative weakness of the 2024 Draft, you don’t often get teams putting those kinds of picks on the table. As for why they turned it down, Gottlieb noted there was a mandate from ownership to make a playoff push (the Bulls finished 9th, ultimately losing in the Play-In to Miami), which put the brakes on any pivot to the future by the front office.
This summer, Caruso can sign an extension worth just under $80 million, but it’s not clear if the Bulls will offer that or if he’d accept it, given how highly teams value his abilities around the league. If Chicago does not get Caruso signed long-term, they may have to put him back on the trade market, and it’s possible they’ll have passed on the highest pick they could’ve gotten for him, as he’d now be just a one-year rental (with the ability to sign him next summer using Bird rights).
