“Alex Caruso will get a $9.5 million offer from Lakers”: Brian Windhorst speculates where the future of the defensive specialist lies

Alex Caruso could receive a major hike in salary with the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of this upcoming NBA Free Agency window. 

At this point, Alex Caruso has become one of the biggest fan favorites for the Los Angeles Lakers. The 27-year-old may not be a starter, but he has proven to be an integral rotation piece on a championship-winning team. 

His mix of very good defense, and reliable offense on even the highest level, make him one of the more underrated players in the league today.At this moment, the Lakers have access to his services for a mere $2.7 Million a year. 

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However, according to ESPN analyst and NBA insider, Brian Windhorst, this could change very soon. With that being said, let’s get into it.

Alex Caruso could be up for a contract worth $9.5 million with the Lakers in the upcoming weeks

Speaking on the topic, Windhorst had this to say about Alex Caruso and the Lakers’ situation:

“The 2021 free-agent market has been stripped of many of the biggest names, as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paul George, Rudy Gobert, and James elected to sign extensions to stay with their current teams. But there still could be 10 teams with $20 million or more in cap space and another handful with more than $10 million.”

“That means the Lakers could have competition to keep their role players. As an athletic guard who can defend, unrestricted free agent Caruso will have suitors. League executives think he could draw interest at the full midlevel exception range, which is $9.5 million next season. (Caruso currently earns $2.7 million.)” 

Alex Caruso declined an invitation to the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Per @billoram pic.twitter.com/NM0wiNpDQm

— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) March 2, 2021

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As Brian Windhorst said, due to the lack of many big-name free agents this time around, many teams could go after Alex Caruso. Given his skill set, and what he has proven at the highest level, his name will most definitely be an attractive one.

Still, insiders believe the Lakers do in fact want to keep the 27-year-old. Perhaps both parties may even reach a compromise on how much needs to be paid. But, as with many things, only time will tell what happens next in this situation.

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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