The Alex Caruso-Josh Giddey Trade Displays Two Franchises Headed in Different Directions
OKC Miraculously Flips Giddey for Caruso Straight Up
At February’s NBA trade deadline, the Chicago Bulls stood their ground. They decided that Alex Caruso was a vital piece to their roster and found him to be one of the pieces that kept them where they were: the Play-In race. With multiple other teams, like the Golden State Warriors, approaching Chicago about the 30-year-old two-way talent, the Bulls said they needed “multiple first-round picks to even consider” moving Caruso elsewhere.
On Thursday, they traded him to Oklahoma City for Josh Giddey in a one-for-one deal.
A franchise that wanted valuable draft capital went to the team with a motherload of 10 first-rounders in the next four drafts—five of which come in 2025—and left with none.
Instead, the Bulls settled for the 21-year-old Giddey, fresh off a postseason series against Dallas where he averaged 6.2 points and shot 18% from behind the arc—a number that allowed the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic to rest defensively for six games and conserve his energy for the offensive end. Giddey’s minutes ended up drifting to guys like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, whose offenses had to be respected outside of 12 feet.
Obviously, Giddey wasn’t the only reason OKC lost to Dallas, but a bit of offensive prowess could have sparked the Thunder. It’s clear Oklahoma City is building something special and with its hoard of draft picks, Sam Presti has the opportunity to chase a big name whenever he pleases. As he explained the vision for Giddey, there was a disconnect.
“As we laid out to Josh how he could lean into his strengths and ultimately optimize our current roster and talent, it was hard for him to envision, and conversations turned to him inquiring about potential opportunities elsewhere,” Presti told The Associated Press. “As always was the case, Josh demonstrated the utmost professionalism throughout the discussions.”
It’s not clear if the Thunder went around actively shopping Giddey, but it got a steal in return for him. Caruso is coming off a year in which he averaged 10.1 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals and was voted to the All-Defensive second team.
The Boston Celtics just displayed the blueprint for how to beat a guard-dependent team like the Dallas Mavericks. Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday all worked together phenomenally on defense to give Doncic and Kyrie Irving issues and it resulted in a gentlemen’s sweep.
OKC now has that with Caruso, Lugentz Dort, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
A year after going 57-23 and finishing as the top seed in a loaded Western Conference, the Thunder now leap even further into contention while still being under the first apron of the salary cap, which gives Presti some room to play. Oklahoma City could use some size going forward and could certainly make a move for some to get even further ahead of schedule.
For Chicago, which went 39-43 and was the East’s ninth seed heading into the Play-In Tournament, it looks like the firesale has started. Caruso is gone, DeMar DeRozan is set to become an unrestricted free agent, and reports say the Bulls are actively trying to trade both Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. They’ll undoubtedly be looking for draft capital, but swung and missed with Caruso as an asset. The market for LaVine is faltering, and they’re not guaranteed much for him or Vucevic while DeRozan is likely going to walk for nothing.
Dark days seem to be ahead for Chicago despite the ascension of Coby White. There won’t be enough pieces around him to even contend for a Play-In spot. The Bulls seemed so content on being average this season that it could hurt them in the long run.
The Thunder, on the other hand, continue to be on the way up. Gilgeous-Alexander is a superstar who finished 2nd in MVP voting, Chet Holmgren had a phenomenal rookie season, Jalen Williams is blossoming into a star himself, and the rest of the supporting cast is young and talented. It will be up to Sam Presti on how to best capitalize on what he already has, but this week was a great start.