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Coming off a spectacular performance in the Las Vegas Summer League, Alex Caruso received some excellent news: He’s got a job for the next two years.
The Lakers signed him to a ‘two-way’ contract (newly implemented this season), which allows for transfers between the Lakers and their G League (formerly ‘D League’) affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.
In a surprise to absolutely no one with A&M ties, Caruso has been lauded by NBA Scouts for his pick-and-roll decision making, general court vision, and active hands off the ball... but his recent run has been supplemented by some excellent long range shooting.
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Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to have up to two players under two-way contracts on their roster at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. As a two-way player, Caruso can spend up to 45 days with the Los Angeles Lakers, not including any time prior to the start of the South Bay Lakers’ training camp or after the conclusion of their G League season.
Caruso earned this opportunity with an impressive all-around showing in Las Vegas, where he is averaging 6.5 points, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 17.2 minutes for the Summer League squad. Caruso — who was a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s training camp last year — will likely spend the majority of his time with the South Bay Lakers, who have turned a conference foe into their point guard of the present.
Playing for the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue last season, Caruso led the league in steals with 108. He also averaged 11.9 points, 5.2 assists and 2.2 steals while splashing 40.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Kudos to Alex for locking down a deal for the next two years. If he can continue to stick his outside shots on a regular basis, a fully guaranteed NBA contract can’t be far off.