Tracing Alex Caruso's journey from being a G league player to becoming an NBA champion

Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso has become one of the most popular role players in the league over his six-year NBA career. In that short span, Caruso has gone from being an undrafted G Leaguer to a real contributor on an NBA title team.

On that note, here is how Alex Caruso’s NBA career has progressed so far.

Caruso went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft as a senior out of Texas A&M University. He then played with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 NBA Summer League before signing with the OKC Thunder on Sept. 22, 2016. However, the guard was quickly waived on Oct. 17, 2016.

Then on Nov. 3, 2016, Caruso’s rights were acquired by the OKC Blue of the NBA G League. He played in 50 games for the team during the 2016-2017 season. He averaged 11.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game on 45.9% shooting in 30.3 minutes per game.

Following his time with the OKC Blue, Caruso played with the LA Lakers in the 2017 NBA Summer League. His impressive play in the Summer League led the Lakers to sign Caruso to his first two-way contract on July 13, 2017.

This saw him split his playing time between the Lakers and their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

In the 2017-2018 season, Caruso averaged 3.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.6 steals per game on 43.1% shooting for the LA Lakers. Caruso played just 15.2 minutes per game over 37 games.

He also played 29 games for the South Bay Lakers and averaged 19.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 2.0 steals on 50.0% shooting in 30.7 minutes per game. Caruso later signed another two-way contract with the LA Lakers following the 2018 NBA Summer League.

In the 2018-2019 season, Caruso averaged 9.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game for LA. He did so in 21.2 minutes per game over 25 games.

In 27 games for South Bay that year, Caruso averaged 14.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game on 41.0% shooting. He did so in 28.5 minutes per game.

On July 7, 2019, Caruso signed a two-year contract with the Lakers worth $5.5 million. Over the course of this contract, he helped the Lakers win the 2020 NBA Championship by providing them with hustle and defense off the bench.

During his 2020 playoff run with LA, Caruso averaged 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 42.5% shooting. he played 24.3 minutes per game over those 21 playoff games.

In total, Caruso finished his LA Lakers career with averages of 5.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steal per game on 42.9% shooting. He averaged 18.9 minutes per game in 184 games over his four seasons in LA.

On Aug. 10, 2021, Caruso then signed a four-year, $37 million contract with the Chicago Bulls and has played for them over the last two seasons.

For more on Alex Caruso's career stats, click here.

Alex Caruso’s stats with the Chicago Bulls so far

Alex Caruso has struggled a bit with his efficiency during his time in Chicago. However, he has still added athleticism, hustle and defense to the Bulls’ backcourt.

Caruso has averaged 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game on 40.3% shooting in 61 games for Chicago. He has played 27.2 minutes per game for the Bulls so far.