Alex Caruso reveals the Lakers totally botched negotiations with a lowball offer

The Los Angeles Lakers made a strange decision to let Alex Caruso walk during free agency. Now, we’re finally hearing his side of the story.

Caruso, who played an integral role in helping the Lakers secure a title in 2020, eventually signed with the Chicago Bulls. But already, his absence in Los Angeles has been noticeable. Los Angeles has taken a massive hit on the defensive end of the floor, where Caruso was the ultimate glue guy.

While we had only heard from the Lakers, the guard was a guest on Wednesday’s episode of JJ Redick’s podcast The Old Man & The Three.

Our guy Alex Caruso (@ACFresh21) on what exactly happened In free agency that led him to The Chicago Bulls.

Full episode w/ Alex drops tomorrow. Subscribe here: https://t.co/3wGZq3EszW pic.twitter.com/U7EqsAgz9q

— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) November 10, 2021

Here is what Caruso said about how his offseason went down with regard to his free agency:

“So going into it, I didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t really hear much from any team — including the Lakers — leading up to 6:00 p.m. and they called and the Lakers made their offer. It wasn’t an offer I was going to accept because I was going to be able to get considerably more money from another team.”

The reason why that is particularly interesting is that, during the offseason media availability, Lakers executive Rob Pelinka said that the organization made an “aggressive attempt” to re-sign Caruso.

Pelinka said that while teams can be in the mix, it is the players who “control the ultimate choice” and said that was why Caruso landed with Chicago (via Silver Screen and Roll):

“Alex was tremendous here as a championship player, and we’ll be forever grateful for his contributions and his growth … But he had choices and he chose another team. We pursued him and wanted to keep him, same with Talen, and obviously came to a deal with Talen, and Alex moved on.”

Even at the time, Pelinka’s comments were in direct contrast to reporting from The Athletic’s Sam Amick, who suggested Caruso was “not feeling the love” with regard to “communication and connectivity” from the Lakers.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka said the team made an "aggressive attempt" to re-sign Alex Caruso, but ultimately he chose to sign with the Bulls.

— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) September 23, 2021

Pelinka described Caruso as someone who “moved on” but Caruso’s account provided necessary details to contextualize the situation.

The guard told Redick about how he didn’t have very much decision-making power over the course of his career before this offseason, so he wanted to get as much money as he could. As he should, too, considering advanced analytics suggest Caruso is one of the best defensive players in the NBA.

Last season, Caruso finished with the league’s best luck-adjusted defensive RAPM. His defensive estimated plus-minus was third-best (minimum: 700 minutes) behind only Rudy Gobert and Mattise Thybulle. The Lakers had finished each of the past two seasons with the best defensive rating in the Western Conference and now just have a middling defense

But the eye test tells you this, too. You can watch the way he defends James Harden for proof of his value:

Watch James Harden's first three possessions of the fourth quarter. Alex Caruso was hounding him from the inbound.

Harden's fourth quarter stats: 0-for-2, zero points, zero assists, minus-18. pic.twitter.com/uaiIGMzatN

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) November 9, 2021

Caruso said he spoke to several different teams about the mid-level exception, which would wind up as a four-year deal worth $41 million. Eventually, said Caruso, he learned that the Bulls were interested. His offer from Chicago was just shy of that — it was a four-year deal worth $37 million.

Still, however, he and his camp wanted to give the Los Angeles front office the right of first refusal. Reporting from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who is very well-sourced within the organization and around the league, suggested Caruso was seeking a three-year deal worth $30 million.

“So essentially, we got that offer, went back to L.A., asked if they could do the same, they said no. We asked for something else that was a little less. They said no. So we said okay. If that’s what it comes to, I’m ready to go to Chicago and start the next chapter.”

With fairness to the Lakers, as noted by HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan, even matching the $8.6 million salary that Caruso got from Chicago would have given Los Angeles an additional $34 million in combined payroll and luxury tax payments.

According to Shelburne’s reporting, however, the Lakers were not willing to go above $7 million per season.

Redick was essentially able to confirm as much from Caruso. He asked him to blink once if the Lakers offered less than a two-year, $15 million deal and Caruso blinked emphatically.

“The Lakers boffed that one,” one rival executive recently told Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus. “I’m not sure what they were thinking.”