Alex Caruso agreed to a four-year, $37 million contract with the Chicago Bulls this past week. In doing so, he parted ways with the Los Angeles Lakers – the first pro team to give him a shot and the one he won an NBA title with.
Before leaving, Caruso provided some unexpected aid to his teammate, Marc Gasol.
During a recent appearance on the Lowe Post podcast with Zach Lowe, ESPN NBA insider Ramona Shelburne revealed that if not for Caruso’s intervention, Gasol would be a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves right now.
“[Caruso] had a couple of deals, somewhere around the mid-level,” she said.
“One was a team that didn’t have to do a sign-and-trade, and that was the Bulls, and that was the one he preferred anyway. But I heard the Timberwolves were in on this. It would have been a sign-and-trade, and they actually would have taken back Marc Gasol.
“Like that could have been salary cap relief for the Lakers, not just a trade exception. So we’ll see if they end up needing those exceptions, we’ll see if they end up needing those extra tools to build this roster out, but I think that’s really where we’re going to decide ‘was the Westbrook trade a success?’”
Caruso long ago established himself as arguably the greatest teammate in the NBA, so his final parting gift for Gasol shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Gasol has been very emotional regarding his time in LA thus far, so Caruso’s deed no doubt spared him a good amount of further stress.
The Bucks owner’s daughter decided to bring 2021 in with a bang by stripping all her clothes off. https://t.co/UgzhEEna4o
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 7, 2021
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