Caruso SPEAKS OUT On Joining The Thunder…

Caruso SPEAKS OUT On Joining The Thunder…

Alex kuso just at his verse press conference as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder for next season and even though it wasn’t live streamed there were many reporters there kind of breaking down and giving us live tweets and quotes about what kuso was saying and we’re here to break down really just two crucial quotes that I saw that kind of show the kind of player Caruso is but first of all there are some things that he said that kind of stood out to me first off is the relationship that he has with head coach Mark dnal which is kind of interesting because he was his head coach uh when he was coaching on the blue what probably a few years back now when Kusa was just getting into the league so that relationship that he already has with Mark dnal is insane for this team for the chemistry how he’s going to play on the court because when you’re playing for a coach that you already know so well and when he spoke so highly of Mark dnal talking about how he can’t wait to be cussed out the first day of practice which is you know I love that kind of energy bringing it on the team and it just kind of shows a player he is just kind of mentality on the court along with some other quotes that we saw here but what he had to say about head coach Mark dnal was just insane because it shows he’s here for the team that’s what really showcases what he kind of means and also talking about how some of the players have already reached out to him when you have a guy like SGA already talking about how he loves his style of game and everything he loves his style of play and how he can’t wait to get to work and how he already knows the difference between Jay will and Jay dub and that’s just the little thing of how he takes notes of who he’s going to be playing with and who he’s going to be playing for it just shows how much he cares about winning a championship and playing high level basketball playing to the best of his ability however there are two quotes that I saw that I find really interesting the first one that we got here all right talking about his defense all right it’s just a little snippet that we got but this is what he had to say you got to have a little bit of Amnesia guys are going to score you all watched SGA play the last couple of years which this is an you know answer when someone asked him you know how he stays positive on the defensive endf I believe that was the question that was asked and that kind of shows you know he has a short memory which is something that you need in the NBA it truly is you need a short memory because you’re going to make mistakes you’re going to give up buckets that’s the nature of the game it’s going to happen which is something I felt like happened in the playoffs that we weren’t really taking to Heart All right we were constantly saying like Okay we need to not worry about that once someone hit a big time bucket we would just kind of you know go tight and not respond on the other end and on the uh going back on the defensive side you know we play even tighter which you know allows them to find some holes and gaps we’re not playing loose that’s something that we need to be crucial of and I think Alex cruso brings a great part of that to this Oklahoma City Thunder team how he kind of no matter what he’s going to play loose because he knows mistakes are going to be made guys are going to get to the bucket and score against him it’s the NBA NBA you’re playing against some of the greatest athletes in the world and you know the best basketball players in the world as well so of course you know every now and then someone’s going to score on you and it just shows you that’s part of the reason why he’s such a great defender and basketball player when you look at the stats here it translates so well when you look at this even when he is starting off in the league now he didn’t really have great defensive stats when you can see here when he only had you know half a steel game for the O Lakers when he actually was playing in the NBA instead of the G league but that was only in 37 games played then the next season you know jumped up a little bit to a steel game and that’s what you could really tell he was going to be a primarily defensive player and it progressively got better throughout the years stayed around one steel per game when he was with the Lakers and then he went to Chicago and that’s when it really stepped up when he was kind of going into a a starting role you know not as often but more often now his first season with Chicago was cut short you know he only played 41 games started in 18 so only played half the season but he was averaging 1.7 steals a game uh on those numbers 30 uh 3.6 total rebounds 2.8 defensive boards uh block number at just a half but you know he’s not fouling much either when you look at that 2.6 fouls per game which we’ll gladly take he’s not fing a bunch he’s not taking you know chances where it’s like 50/50 maybe they’ll call this or not no he’s going to wait for his perfect opportunity and go in and steal the ball that’s the kind of defensive player he is and he’s not really giving up a ton of easy buckets either he’s playing physical downloading the post if he’s getting mismatched that’s where he thrives in some of his steals because these big men think they can just bully him and once they try to take this power dribble or put uh put the ball up high he just swats it away that’s what he does that’s what he really excels at when stealing the ball when people think they have a mismatch when in reality it’s the perfect situation for him defensively then these last two years he’s finished as defensive um you know in the Runnings for defensive player of the year he’s gotten a few votes and his uh second season Chicago finished 11th and last season finished 10th he was um uh First Team all defense in in the 2023 season and then second Team all defense in the 2024 season so we know he’s a defensive player he’s a dog averaging if my eyes are reading that correctly it’s kind of small that’s why you see me kind of going down to the screen a little bit every now and then but over Square’s averaging 1.3 steals a game and half a block and he’s not really fing a ton 2.1 fouls you know for his career average last season at 2.5 the season before 2.4 so he’s not really getting into foul trouble which is great for us all right he’s a defensive minut that doesn’t get into foul trouble whereas L Dort majority of the time you see him getting into the four foul um you know getting into four fouls in the fourth quarter because he plays so physical and aggressive whereas kuso he methodically plans it out and we have that with case Wallace as well so it’s a nice mixture of like a yin and yang situation going on that’s that’s kind of what I see it you know yin and yang it’s the perfect description of our defensive duo will have in the starting lineup now this is if cuso is in the starting lineup he could potentially be coming off the bench whatever moves we make this offseason but whenever they’re on the court together you know Caruso and Dort it’s going to be like a yin and yang thing where you know Dort is this physicality side this brute where Alex cruo more is this guy that’s relaxed and he’s waiting for the opportunity to strike when you least expect it that’s what I kind of see from it now with the other quote that I found really interesting all right this is in you know answering regards if he think he’s is going to be a long-term thing here on the Thunder he said I think so that conversation is for another place in time I know what Oklahoma City as an organization stand for possibly but I think for now I just like to meet my teammates and get to work so it’s you know very thoughts there are thoughts in conversation already about Caruso being this long-term piece for us you know and the comparisons I’m getting from this is he’s our Derek white of this team I don’t want to do like a fullon comparison of like we’re trying to be you know do exactly what the Celtics are doing because I think it’s a little bit of a difference because our rebuild you know we didn’t wait seven years to actually you know do this once we saw we had success with this lineup last season we immediately went out there and tried to build a championship Squad whereas Boston they waited about four years before they finally said okay this is when we are going to be favorites to win it when we make all these moves so I don’t want to say he’s our Derek white however I can see where the comparisons are but Alex cruso I think it’ be good to have him long term here on a deal cuz I think he’d be a you know guy worth anywhere from 15 to $20 million per year for an extension you know we could get him on a four-year deal and I think that would allow us to keep dub and cck give him you know the max extensions that they will deserve you know keep the our three centerpiece of Shay DB and chat then alongside keeping Caruso and maybe potentially also keeping Dort for the future if he’s willing to take a pay cut because I don’t see him as a Max guy however I do see him as a guy that can make you know 20 to $22 million per year now majority of our salary will be through that however I think we can go go down to a you know eight-man deep rotation instead of this 12-man deep rot that we kind of have going on right now so extending Caruso could very well be a possibility it’s also nice to see him you know not really have that be his concern at the moment where oh I need to be extended you know as soon as possible no he’s not worried about that he’s worried about meeting his teammates all right meshing with the team making sure the flow is great the chemistry is there and winning a championship in 2025 that’s his worry not the money but instead winning a ring which is great for a mindset and you know coming on the team at as well that is fantastic for us it shows that we mean business the guys who are acquiring mean business and they’re not necessarily in this for the money they’re in this to solidify their legacy as a great NBA player and try to get into the Hall of Fame that’s what they’re doing this for and that’s what kuso is doing which could kind of be infectious and go on to the rest of the team I could see that happening with some of the guys being like okay I’ll take a pay cut you know I’ll take a $5 million pay cut to stay with this team because I know I can win a ring if I stay here it’s something that could be infectious and spread with everyone on the team which could ultimately benefit us and make a super team if we really want to because we are slowly building one however the salary will be a problem and kuso mentioning that hey I want to be here long term but I’m not worried about the money at the moment is great for us but that’s all we really got so far with the press conference we have we haven’t been able to watch it because like I mentioned at the start of the video it wasn’t live streamed for some reason I don’t know why however I believe they do plan on posting it at some point so we can actually see what he said and break it down some more because it is different when you hear it from the words of the person speaking it out instead of in some you know reports and tweets you at the moment from some reporters that were there so it’d be definitely interesting to see what you know his body language is saying when he’s you know with all these quotes but let me down in the comments what you guys personally think from these quotes from him if you guys think you know with what so far what he said what we know he said you know and mention if he’d be a great fit for this team and also let me know if you guys would like to see him extended and stay on this Thunder team for another four years as well let me don’t know all that down in the comments I’ll see you guys in the next video

Alex Caruso just had his first press conference as a Thunder Player since being traded. Even though it was not live-streamed, reporters gave live updates and quotes from Caruso. Bryson Akins breaks down some of the quotes, and what Caruso means by some of them.

Thunder Digest covers the latest reports, news and rumors regarding the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you want to stay updated with every trade, move and tidbit on players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Mark Daigneault and Sam Presti.