The Oklahoma City Thunder have locked down Alex Caruso.
Caruso and the Thunder agreed to a four-year, $81 million contract extension Sunday night. his agent told ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Thunder also announced the extension Sunday night, but did not disclose the terms of the deal. Caruso, who is in his first season with the Thunder, would become a free agent next summer. The 30-year-old will now be under contract with the organization through the 2028-29 campaign.
Caruso, who actually started with the Thunder’s G League team after going undrafted out of Texas A&M in 2017, spent his first four seasons in the league with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won a title in 2020. Caruso then spent three seasons with the Chicago Bulls before being traded to Oklahoma City in exchange for Josh Giddey last summer. He first became eligible for a contract extension on Saturday, so the Thunder wasted no time getting the deal done.
The two-time NBA All-Defensive Team point guard has also shined for the franchise so far this season. He has averaged 5.7 points and 2.9 assists per game off the bench, but ranks in the top five in the league in deflections, field goal percentage allowed and pick points allowed as a ball-handling defender, according to ESPN. He’s also averaging a career-high 1.9 steals per game this season.
Perhaps most importantly, he helped lead Oklahoma City to a Western Conference-best 22-5 start to the season heading into Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards. They also reached the NBA Cup championship game, but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in Las Vegas last week. Caruso scored just two points, both from the free throw line, in that loss. They also had the lowest score of the season in the title game.
The Thunder went 57-25 last season and reached the Western Conference semifinals, which was the team’s deepest playoff run since falling in the conference finals in 2016. While the Thunder’s success was will largely be based on how far away stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen are. Williams and Chet Holmgren, who is out with a hip injury, can carry them, Caruso should be able to provide great depth and very solid leadership for Oklahoma City for years to come.