Draymond Green Explains Why Alex Caruso Is So Important to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Team

Despite winning the Western Conference in 2023-24, the Oklahoma City Thunder cratered when the postseason rolled around, falling in six games to the West’s eventual NBA Finals rep, the Dallas Mavericks, and proving that the team was close but not quite ready to contend. To fix last season’s faults, OKC brought in two veterans known for doing the dirty work: Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso.

Newly-crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams have been the main catalysts of the team’s success. But after once again cruising through the regular season, it’s been the production from I-Hart and Caruso that has given OKC the boost they needed to power through the playoffs.

Now in the NBA Finals with a chance to win the franchise’s first championship, Caruso is showing exactly why the team made it a priority to bring in his services. Following a 20-point effort in Game 2 alongside numerous game-changing defensive sequences, Caruso has convinced Draymond Green that he’s OKC’s third-most important player.

Despite Chet Holmgren’s status as a former top pick, Green doesn’t believe the big man has established himself as a reliable third option. “In theory, you want to say it’s Chet. It looks like it’s supposed to be Chet. But when I take a step back and look at this team, Chet was out a large bulk of this year, and they were just fine,” he said on The Draymond Green Show.

“And also, who’s the third-most important player on the team may not be the third-most important player in this series,” Green continued, explaining the difference between a third option and the third-most important player.

“One and two is usually always one and two … And in the regular season, the third is usually the third. But when you get to the playoffs, third can be taken out of a series.”

If the typical third option struggles to produce in certain situations, it opens up opportunities for less-heralded players to step up, according to Green. “And five or six can become more important than three. And when I look at this OKC team, I actually think the third-most important player is Alex Caruso,” the veteran forward stated.

Caruso has certainly had more of an impact on OKC’s playoff success than Holmgren, whom most view as the team’s third-best player. But with an NBA Championship already to his name, Alex Caruso knows exactly what he needs to do — and what it takes — to win at this facet of the postseason.

Unlike some bench players who succeed in the regular season but disappear in the playoffs, Caruso is the opposite in Green’s eyes. Now that Caruso has shown the Indiana Pacers what he’s capable of, the four-time champion believes Rick Carlisle must game plan more for the All-NBA defender.

“[Caruso’s] shown us over and over again he can deliver in this moment,” Green continued. “I’m going to make him so important to our game plan. I’m going to make less of an importance than our game plan to the guy who hasn’t done it. Can’t do that to Shai … J-Dub, you try to if you want to … But for number three, I actually think Caruso is more important, especially for this series.”

The Pacers have a ton of defensive ground to cover against a deep and talented OKC squad. But if the team hopes to avoid being blindsided by the Thunder bench again, they’ll have to key in more on Alex Caruso.