James-Caruso are perfect combination for ‘winning basketball’.

LeBron James has had many great teammates over the years, including Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. However, one teammate that has largely gone under the radar is point-guard Alex Caruso, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers and now with the Chicago Bulls, who NBA insider Mark Medina argues to have had the ‘best on-court chemistry’ with James in their three-year tenure together in the Purple and Gold.

A reunion in Los Angeles on the cards?

The summer of 2021 saw a transformational shift for the Lakers, where they completely overhauled their roster, bringing in veteran pieces such as Carmelo Anthony, and reuniting with Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo just to name just a few, but no move was perhaps more significant that the departure of Caruso, who chose to sign with the Bulls, with a contract reported to be a four-year, $37 million.

Caruso would later admit on J.J. Redick’s ‘The Old Man and the Three’ podcast that the Lakers did call to make him an offer, but Chicago’s offer was worth ‘considerably more money’. That off-season, though, the Lakers were in financial trouble of their own, and had they matched the Bulls’ offer, they would have seen their payroll skyrocket to around $233 million including tax, which put simply, was unaffordable. Alas, they had to let him walk away for nothing.

Our guy Alex Caruso (@ACFresh21) on what exactly happened In free agency that led him to The Chicago Bulls.

Full episode w/ Alex drops tomorrow. Subscribe here: https://t.co/3wGZq3EszW pic.twitter.com/U7EqsAgz9q

— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) November 10, 2021

However, fast-forward three seasons, and a possible reunion with the LakeShow could well be on the cards. Currently, with a disastrous 5-14 record, Chicago has reportedly explored the idea of completely blowing the roster apart sooner rather than later, and Caruso’s name has been dangled around in trade rumors. According to a report from Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, an anonymous Eastern Conference executive believes “half the teams in the league” would be interested in signing the 29-year-old, with them looking more at Caruso than any other trade candidates, including All-Stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

This is deemed to be largely as a result of his valuable contributions to hustle and defense, as opposed to his less than underwhelming career scoring numbers. Furthermore, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reports that multiple sources indicate that the Lakers, in particular, would have a strong interest in reuniting with the guard that got away.

Medina – The Lakers ‘should definitely try to get Caruso back’

Medina argues that Caruso was one of the better players that was put around superstar James, and believes as a result of his ‘on-court chemistry with LeBron’, that he would have been the perfect fit to help ‘maximize’ the 18-time All-Star’s championship window.

“You have to look at it through the lens of ‘what can we do to maximize LeBron James’s championship window?’ One of the many things is put the right players around him. When you look at the plus-minus numbers with Caruso, he’s considered to have the best on-court chemistry with LeBron. We’ll have to see whether these trades are all packaged as part of one huge deal or a multi-team trade. But as long as they’re not gutting their entire roster here, the Lakers should definitely try to get Caruso back.”James-Caruso are perfect combination for ‘winning basketball’

An 18-time NBA All-Star, LeBron was full of praise for Caruso when they were teammates, dubbing the undrafted guard and himself as ‘one and the same when it comes to winning basketball’, alluding to Caruso’s high basketball IQ, as well as his ‘sneaky athleticism’.

In three seasons together, the duo played in a total of 106 games, with Carusos’ 5.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 42.7 percent field goal shooting and 35.3 percent from the three-point line looking relatively underwhelming compared to his All-Star teammate. In the same span, King James averaged 25.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game, shooting at an efficiency of 50.2 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from behind the line.

While these numbers aren’t exactly striking, it takes a deep dive into the advanced statistics to truly understand how impactful they were together in a two-man line-up. Per NBA.com, their best output on-court together was during the 2019-20 season, where they had a plus-18.6 net rating, by far the highest of any pairing that played over 250 minutes together on court. That year, the LakeShow rose back to glory by winning the coveted NBA championship, a fitting end to a fantastic, albeit shortened, season for the two.

Similarly, in their final season together in 2020-21, the pair had an overall net rating of plus-17.1, again the highest for a two-man line-up among the team. For note, the net rating of LeBron James and Anthony Davis together was plus-8.0 for the 2019-20 season, and plus-11.2 for the 2020-21 season, respectively.

As a result, Alex Caruso’s impact on both ends of the floor cannot be understated, particularly when sharing the court with one of the best players in NBA history. If the Bulls do decide it is the time to part ways with their 6-foot-5 guard, there will undoubtedly be many suitors fighting over his signature, and the Los Angeles Lakers should ensure that they remain one of the top contenders to land him, providing Chicago’s asking price isn’t too high.

A ‘King James’-‘AC Fresh’ reunion may be exactly the move L.A. need to kickstart their playoff chase this season, and the proof is in the numbers — they are the perfect compliment to each other. Therefore, this is certainly a situation to keep an eye on for the foreseeable, with Caruso suiting up in the Purple and Gold once again not entirely implausible.

Source:https://www.givemesport.com