Chicago Bulls: Honest grades through Day 2 of NBA free agency

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Adding Alex Caruso was an underrated move for the Chicago Bulls

The deal

Chicago signed former Los Angeles Lakers guard Alex Caruso to a 4-year, $37 million deal almost immediately after they agreed to bring in Ball.

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The impact

Like the addition of Ball, one of the main impacts with Caruso comes on the defensive end. Chicago has needed perimeter defenders in a big way, and they got just that with Caruso. Losing Temple and Satoransky meant the Bulls needed another guard within the rotation.

With Coby White recovering from injury and not presenting much of a defensive threat, the desire to add someone like Caruso became present. Caruso is a guy who will give the Bulls a boost off the bench. He brings a ton of energy on both ends of the floor, but is known mostly for his hustle on defense and the ability to knock it down from beyond the arc (40.1 percent from three last season).

Though Caruso played with a superstar like LeBron James who acts as more of a point forward, he is actually an above-average facilitator. Caruso’s per-36 minute averages last year came out to: 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.9 steals. The fact he was so efficient as a passer, even with LeBron, speaks volumes about how he could be used in Chicago.

The grade

Some thought it was an overpay, but an average salary of just over $8 million seems pretty timid by comparison. A lot of other deals have been pretty absurd. For example, The Spurs gave Doug McDermott $14 million annually over three years. When you look at what Caruso will bring to the Bulls and compare his deal to other contracts, this looks like a strong buy.

Grade: B

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