Alex Caruso is expected to sign a contract extension with the Thunder.

But even though Caruso has undoubtedly contributed to the Thunder’s dominant D so far this year, he has provided everything the opposite of a spark on offense. He’s shooting 27.1% from the floor and 18.5% from 3-point range, has an offensive estimated RAPTOR of -4.4 and OKC is scoring 9.8 fewer points per 100 points with him on the floor versus without him. Probably not a coincidence. And given that he’s now playing on a much better team, Caruso’s minutes per game have dropped from a career-high 28.7 minutes in Chicago last season to 19.5 in OKC this year. The good news for OKC (especially Caruso) is that shot-making tends to randomly fluctuate wildly in small samples. Given their abundance of offensive weapons, from trigger-happy SGA and Jalen Williams to shooters like Wallace, Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins, the Thunder will need to make a lot more 3-pointers, and shots in general, than they do now. do. While Caruso’s 2023-24 season could be looked back on as a career season in terms of offensive efficiency,1 he has a history as an above-average deep shooter. – through Neil Payne’s Substack / November 12, 2024