Thunder Trade Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso

Thunder Trade Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso

welcome to down to dunk I’m your host Andrew schle part of the athletic podcast Network oh man I I’ve sent out a call to the down to dunk boys I don’t know if anyone’s joining me here but I am hopping on here because the Thunder have traded Josh giddy to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso uh unbelievable they do this ahead of the draft so they have a much better idea of of what direction they go in they would make me surprised if they took another guard um but this is the the end of an era um for Josh Giddy and and the Thunder I have talked to sources close to the situation for a little while now and it it’s this is not a shocker to me that Josh was traded um I think this was coming I didn’t know that it was going to come this soon from what I understood um there were people that wanted to happen soon um and here we are today the the Thunder ad to their roster a player in Alex Caruso that is ready to win now and I think that’s probably like the most important thing um oh I got Jamon here what’s up Jay what’s up sorry if I sound terrible i’ve I left my microphone at home so here I am at work you didn’t get the word that they were trading Josh giddy you didn’t know it it’s so here’s the funny thing is we talking about this not the giddy trade specifically we were just talking about kind of when the NBA offseason really starts and you’re like as soon as the finals are over and I’m like okay well surely maybe like I don’t know a week later or two weeks later at the draft I I like two days later it’s like I was coming but like I didn’t didn’t think this would happen this soon um I haven’t had a chance I know that you and Alex on Wednesday talked about Caruso specifically we did I I haven’t finished it because it was a San Vini uh link podcast so I’m working through it slowly but uh what tell me real quick just I want to hear kind of your thoughts on and and we could talk about the giddy stuff and I know we have a fry pot in the morning we probably talk a little bit more about that but yeah tell me about tell me about like what should i as a thunder fan expect about what Caruso brings to this team yeah I mean he brings toughness he’s obviously a really good shooter um there’s a lot to like about him he’s been somebody that a lot of teams have been after you know when you think about the Boston Celtics and the kinds of players that they’ve acquired that can shoot pass dribble defend he’s one of those guys and he’s low usage so he’s not a player that’s going to take a lot of shots from your core guys he’s actually going to accentuate them now the only thing is like they have a lot of six5 and smaller guards on the team that play big roles for them so I think that that is pretty interesting uh from what I understand the 12th pick and the Bulls pick are not involved in this trade or people are wondering like what um is and isn’t included in this trade from what I understand there’s no picks this is just Caruso for Josh giddy a pretty clean deal um for the Thunder unless something comes out afterwards but from from what I gather this is just U the Thunder gets to keep their 12 pick they add to the versatility of their roster uh kuso is entering in the last year of a deal um for next season he makes 9 million which doesn’t really um it doesn’t hurt the Thunder all that much they take on a little bit of money um from what Josh was paid but it you add a very significant piece to your roster um and you start to shape what could what it could be like a championship level team this is this is a guy that tons of teams were after and were offering multiple first you know teams were offering the Bulls two first round picks for him and so I think it’s fine value for giddy I think you could look back in a couple years depending on what the th what happens with the Thunder and Giddy and think like maybe the Thunder didn’t get enough for Josh because I think like he could be going to a situation that could fit him a little bit better um but this gives the Thunder somebody I mean he he’s definitely in the top like come coming off the bench I would assume um but iners this team is like one of their like five or six best players on the team like pretty easily um and has has a history of shooting it you know he’s won a championship with the Lakers and has been one of the better players I mean he made all defense so now you have basically like three you know 65 and and smaller guards that can really help you this is a tremendous get I gotta go get on the phone will you talk for like five minutes yeah I uh I don’t have a ton to add to this I think it’s a huge addition obviously part of that is this the reality that you have a guy who wasn’t gonna get playoff minutes and showed that he didn’t get playoff minutes against the Dallas Mavericks and and there were positive things about giddy but he was never going to be the fullest version himself we talked about that all season as part of the podcast and so to to replace him with a guy like Alex Caruso who has just got a proven track record an incredibly successful player a lot of people were talking about him around the kind of Defensive Player of the Year even conversation he’s that good he’s never going to get there because he was on the Bulls but just that kind of Dogg of Defender I am intrigued and and I know we’ll see this kind of shake out through the rest of the season or the rest of the off season I wonder for both Chicago and Oklahoma City and and I’ll let Andrew kind of jump on this a little bit here in a minute but is what does this look like as far as the beginning of like is this I know that that the report from wge which is directly sourced by somebody within the organization the Bulls is that they’re looking for a playmaker since Lonzo ball is never gonna ever be healthy again so they feel like J is going to make the that position but I do wonder if this is if I was a bulls fan what I would hope is that this is the beginning of a a kind of transition downward as far as maybe either preparing for a little bit of a tank or rebuilding the roster in a way that makes a little more sense on One Direction or and I don’t think they have the tools or the resources to get there but for Oklahoma City uh more specifically I do wonder if this is something that is is a precursor for how they’re going to obviously draft next Wednesday but also what other moves could be on the horizon this is a move where Sam is saying you know because we we were talking about giddy is maybe it’s a first round pick or another kind of thing like that down the line but in the end is this is this is a win now move for the Oklahoma City Thunder that ultimately doesn’t impact their bottom line and and I don’t know it’s pretty astonishing that this is the git without having to give a pick away actually to get Caruso is pretty shocking um so I don’t know I it’s a it’s a great move for Oklahom City and the Thunder fan Bay should be pretty enthused as part of this um yeah so I’m going to go into the comment section while Andrew’s on the phone and then I’m going to step away when he gets back here in a second anybody got any questions or let me see we’ve got a we’ve got a super chat from El elbra Regio 7 I lost my job last week but Alex Caruso is such a good upgrade B+ move what a good pickup ah anybody have any other thoughts what do we got here great deal for both teams Aaron Cornish says that uh don Beckham thanks for getting PA pa George next I would say no is Andrew G to cry about the trade now Andrew’s been looking at this and actually some of this has been sourced is he knew that this was probably on the horizon uh talking to different parties connected to both of them so um yeah it’s good for giddy it’s a huge deal for Giddy and somebody asked about the money I’m not the money expert here but it is one of those things that they don’t need the to make the money work because uh they have tons of cap space and so they can take and I I couldn’t tell you exactly what giddy’s contract was in his final year but it wasn’t far off from Caruso was 9 million uh what else we got oh they want to extend Caruso it’s also one of the fun things has been just the reality that uh Caruso was on the blue uh back in the day and actually was under Mark dnal as the coach and uh Alex just shared this I’m going to see if I can copy this and put this in the chat here see if I can throw it out there how do I do this let me present something how about uh nope don’t want to do that so but yeah you can find some pictures of Caruso playing for the Oklahoma City Blue Back in the day um yeah and I do think Gumby mentioned this is what is the I still think it doesn’t fix the fact that you’re a little too small but to run out of lineup of dor Shay Caruso Chad and uh jdub that is uh brutal brutal defensive lineup for another team and uh it’s going to be I don’t know it this is what you were hoping for from Sam as he heads into this and offseason and to to figure out what they’re going to be going forward so um anything else what else you guys got see locky Walsh I just disagree with that he says for right now Caruso makes sense or makes us better but I honestly thought G’s value would be higher than just a straight up I actually personally think this is kind of shocking that they didn’t have to give up a pick to get Caruso uh G’s value is not huge um yeah I don’t know if they had hartenstein this could be a championship team I still don’t see them going that direction with the traditional big but what do I know uh yeah and I think Andrew mentioned this earlier in our our our conversation is Alex Caruso is most definitely not a uh he’s used to being a role player not going to come in and have high use usage or demand the ball but I can’t believe that a top five defense is is just added one of the Premier defenders in the league and by all accounts it’s just a you know just a guy that’s kind of willing to do anything to help a team grow um yeah and I think so Bala uh mentioned this in the chat as well does this make draft Knight more interesting I thought they go for a three andb depth I I can’t imagine that they would not try to find some size as part of that uhbe maybe I’m crazy to assume that I don’t know if that means they could trade back and get a Don Holmes who I kind of like or I I feel like filipowski is kind of fading out of a lot of people’s status their draft status uh where they have him kind of marked in the lottery and then on top of that is uh you know they’re not going to move up that don’t I couldn’t see them in a billionair taking zachi Donovan kingan it’s even in conversations at the number one pick so it it would make sense to maybe go up there and get homes or something like that I ultimately don’t think Eric Allen asked this question is it doesn’t mean anything for Dort the organization loves Dort Mark loves Dort I think it’s just adding one more key piece to this conversation um all right what else we got Shaq Edy come on down I don’t think so nor do I hope so uh Shaq Ed again I I feel conflicted about y’all calling him shacky I know it’s mostly a joke but being a longtime Shaq fan and uh I can’t imagine what Shaq would do to Zak can he rebound uh yeah sure a little bit hartenstein would be a dog for us this is okay See’s Derrik white I actually like that comp that’s pretty good not quite as ball dominant as Dereck white is or or much of a point guard great trade for both sides and Andrew is almost back Andrew hi sorry I held the fort down but I’m got to go too okay I gotta get on I gotta get on for the rest of my day I set it up man I said this is perfect and I do want to hear but as I’ll take this off the air a little bit so what do you think this does to impact the Thunder’s draft strategy next Wednesday night oh yeah I think that you just don’t take I just don’t see how you take a guard at this point I think that you’re going for some kind of forward um or you’re draft a big I think that’s I think that’s what I think that’s where this goes so yeah I mean I just don’t think I just I mean there’s not any room for it I I think also I think a a pretty interesting point to me is how how this affects Chad and even a guy like Cas Wallace in that like you needed the ball to be in Josh giddy’s hands for this to work and like the reason that he’s not here anymore is because it obviously wasn’t working but now those possessions need to go to somebody else and they’ll go to guys like Chad and they’ll go to case Wallace and they’ll go to Jay dub because Caruso they needed to find players that complimented what they do only thing about I wish Caruso was six foot eight that’s the position that I still think they need the most but the fact that you brought in another player that just complements what Shay jdub and Chad do and that you can throw him out there he’s going to defend he can defend guys that are a little bit bigger than him uh he can shoot it he can handle a a little bit but he’s just he’s a low usage Allstar you know I I just can’t shake the feeling that like this is a little bit like when the Spurs got Derek white not the Spurs the the Celtics got Derrick White from the Spurs where it’s like that guy’s perfect like he fits exactly what you want to do and so I’m this is about as good as you could get for Josh giddy because we were you know our friend of the show Sam Vini talked about how he could be excuse me how he could be dealt for like the 26th pick you know and you look at like this other people thought he should get one that’s higher than that like the we talked on slamon jam and Fred talked about the second pick like you know both those aren’t great aren’t I mean the second pick would be tremendous but I don’t think you’re getting the second pick for him in the 26 pick would have just felt really bad now you look at this deal for the Thunder Caruso I mean we’re talking about two first rounders for Caruso is like the value that people are talking about for him and so that I mean that’s tremendous value if you’re thinking that he’s worth two first rounders which a lot of teams were and and they’re going to be protected first these aren’t like two unprotected first round picks but this it’s really really good value um I have a couple um super chats and if you want to ask a question ask a question we I’ll hang here for a little bit we can talk through this a little bit more uh I appreciate you guys uh subscribing and being here if you could I got we got tons of people in the Stream this is this is uh so much fun uh please just like the video that’s all I need you to do right now is like the video uh would really really appreciate that um couple super chats untouchable raer 1960 the Bulls run office is so bad uh giddy is someone you don’t want in your locker room he’s trouble the Lakers didn’t even want him um wish the best for Alex kuso uh the the Thunder love Josh giddy they do it just became very obvious that this was not the place where he was going to spread his wings and if you’re going to trade somebody if you’re going to trade trade Josh for somebody I think this is about as good as it gets like I said the value of kuso is is tremendous around the league the fact that he was even available is pretty lucky for the Thunder that they were able to get him um Al Regio uh eloma Regio 7 I lost my job last week but Alex cruzo such a good upgrade B+ move what a great pickme up ah oh sorry about your job alom Regio but hang in there man um yeah I think it’s a really nice it’s a really nice move for the Thunder I think that he is a guy that the Thunder have liked for a long time very obviously the dude played for the OKC blue they obviously had a ton of interest in Alex Caruso he ends up going to the Lakers he ends up winning a title um two-time all defensive player he’s this is a tremendous get for the Thunder I mean he shot 40% from three almost five attempts last season that’s really good and and he’s just he’s low usage I mean you look at his usage rate through the years I mean he’s at 14% usage 11% usage and yet this is a guy who on a bad Bulls team a Bulls team that’s just like scrapping and call just to get in the backside of the of the playin I mean he’s a positive plus 2.5 box plus minus he’s a plus 2.3 vorp like he’s he’s impacting winning and like the stats say it his steel percentage best in the league I mean that’s that’s how the Thunder like to play they like to play fast and now you have another guy that can help be disruptive whether he comes off the bench or they find a way to start him I don’t know but man just to think about adding a player that is low usage that shoots threes at a pretty high I mean that’s a pretty decent volume for him to get that many threes up when he’s not really shooting the ball them I shoot shot seven times per game last year field goal attempts he’s basically five of the seven are threes which is really really nice and he’s just a tremendous Defender I mean it’s it’s tough to find I mean he is the definition of a role player and like one of the best role players in the league and to bring here a guy that the Thunder they they’ve wanted to get him back for a while he is 30 years old already but it is but listen you’re number one in the west this is a signal to the entire NBA the Thunder ready to compete and they’re going to start pushing some chips in and the first one is trading their 68 point guard that did not fit for a 6’5 guard that is all Def One made the all defensive team twice and as a 40% three-point shooter he’s going to fit like a glove with these guys and he can play next to anybody can play in almost any lineup you need him to um the fact that you I mean just look at the west and the number of guards that are good out there now the big position still needs to be filled the backup big position I think needs to be filled and they’ll I think that they’ll figure that out as a Sumer goes on but this being your very first move of the summer it’s it’s a really good one I think this is really good value um for Josh and and also it’s it’s just it’s it’s a good move for Josh to like he needs to be somewhere else he was never going to become the player that he is I believe the Thunder think he can become a really good player and could even become an All-Star level player I don’t think that this this is saying that they don’t think that he could I think this is just saying they don’t think that he can become that in Oklahoma City and that became increasingly clear as the days moved on and also you and not that this was part of the deal but you deal him to the Eastern Conference you know there’s I had heard that San Antonio was interested in him how sick to your stomach would you be if he goes and plays with San Antonio and San Antonio becomes this Contender and he’s like averaging 10 assists to Victor wanyama every night um yeah um and then you look at you know I think the Utah Jazz were another team that had interest in him I mean who knows about the Jazz but I mean then I think Washington did have some interest in him as well I don’t know what the interest was in making a deal with Washington that was something that we had talked about on the show but uh Chicago really wasn’t on my radar mostly because the Chicago Bulls haven’t made a trade in years in literal years they have not made a trade and so that’s it’s surprising in that way and that he was a he’s a guy that consistently was on uh thems trade wish list in Alex Caruso and he is uh now a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder and they didn’t have to give up any picks to get him um which I think is also a good signal one I think that obviously the Bulls value Josh what he can be but if you’re the Thunder like you get to upgrade your roster you trade a player that didn’t fit um for a player that fits very well and you know the character checks out he knows the organization there’s just so many good things about it for the Thunder I still think they need to get a bigger Wing I still think that there there needs to be some adjustments to the roster this is not like the finishing touches they’ve got a pick for the draft um so I think it makes sense it makes sense for a team that’s ready to compete today uh Hey listen the draft just got a little bit more interesting uh we will have a fry pod tomorrow where we’ll break more of this down we will discuss um his Alex kuso’s fit we’ll talk more about the draft and who the Thunder could go after I do have a draft special that’s coming out that I’ve been working on all week of course um and people talk a lot about a lot of different players I still will release the draft special as is but you’ll have to know that we didn’t know about the Alex Caruso Alex Caruso um Edition yet um I am going to record with San Vini later so we will have that lens to look through um for sure at this point um so that won’t completely tarnish the uh the draft bananza as I’m calling it um any concerns on injury history this is from Dylan strouble let me let’s take a look at the games played log me played 71 games last year 67 the year before 41 and 2122 58 with the Lakers in 202 won um he’s had a couple years with with injuries but the last two years he’s he’s played in quite a few games and has made all defensive teams 10th and defensive player of the year voting last year 11th the year before made all defense the first team two years ago second team last year or this this current season um yeah I don’t I don’t think so I really don’t think so I don’t think there’s any concern there with him um let me make sure I haven’t missed okay Andrew Baxter does um hartenstein look less likely now I don’t think this affects that I don’t I I think the interest there is real I don’t know how substantial the interest is but the interest there is real but I don’t I don’t know if that’s like the 15th thing on their list or the second thing on their list I don’t know this was obviously thing number one to get done and to get it done before the draft so you have a better idea of what you want to do there um I see I would say more moves to come for the Thunder Brighton Schmidt just gives me a dollar no question just a dollar thank you Brighton appreciate you buddy um okay um let’s see yeah taner stack another Super Chat before we get out of here what would you have ranked Caruso in your one to five rankings one I I I didn’t think this was very possible I didn’t know that he was available I I probably wouldn’t have thought that you could just get him for giddy straight up I would have thought that you’d have to give something else to get him I don’t I’m not like in love with the fit because they have guards that do this stuff already um they have Dort they have case and Wallace they have guys that do this already so it’s not like a obvious like upgrade in a particular spot it’s an upgrade for the roster overall I can see the vision um I still think they need a big forward like I still think like that is still the case um but again low usage not taking shots away from your big three actually helping your big three and adding to your big three I I just think this is a I don’t think this there’s any reason for downside here and adding a player that fits and can shoot adding I mean this team was the one of the best three-point shooting teams in the League last year if not the best adding Caruso to that group and taking away Josh giddy who was taking threes and really trying to make the best of it and really doing all that he can to fit in the role that he needed to for the Thunder just couldn’t make it work but giving Caruso those threes in place of giddy I mean holy smokes guys and cruso was 40% from the corners 40% overall last year took a big chunk of his threes from the corners over the last two seasons he was 40% from the corners and he’s going to get higher quality shots than he got in Chicago I mean you can if you have any Chicago Bulls fans in your life I can tell you the Chicago Bull Bulls fans are are pretty unhappy some Bulls fans were would say things like that Caruso is the like the reason that they loved watching the Chicago Bulls you know and so Thunder fans you’re going to love this guy he’s going to be a fan favorite he gives a th% effort crazy steals threes I think like this is a um really really interesting one um let’s see anything anything else from the chat before we go a Serial grade on this trade this is like a uh I mean probably because you got like serious value for Josh like that’s serious value if you’re if teams are willing to trade two first round picks for him serious value so I mean it’s it’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch honestly I I would have probably thought that you’d have to include like a future first and giddy to get him um and now you I mean you just get him straight up and you get to keep your pick so this is it’s really good value for OKC so uh thanks so much for tuning in please hit the like button would really appreciate that if you’re not subscribed go ahead and do that as well if you are a thunder fan listening to this and listening to us for the first time um would very much appreciate um you guys joining us at the Jones assembly on next Wednesday night to watch the draft with us would would just love it would very much appreciate it um thank so much for tuning in hope everybody’s doing great we’ll tomorrow morning 6:00 a.m. usually we start like 6:25 is uh we’ll be live doing the fry pod so uh I’ll send out for questions there and we’ll we will answer tqs we will discuss everything would love to see you guys all at the draft party look out for that draft Bonanza I’m either going to drop it over the weekend or uh perhaps on Monday I haven’t decided yet so please tune in um to that as well I put a ton of work into it um we do talk a lot about guards I would be surprised if they went with a guard in the draft now um but who knows who knows I don’t know U thanks so much for listening appreciate you guys and we’ll talk to you guys again tomorrow