The OKC Thunder have been one of the busiest ball clubs during this year's offseason.
From landing this summer's top-billed center in Isaiah Hartenstein on the second day of free agency to re-upping with promising young ballers like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins on longer-term, cost-efficient contracts, Sam Presti and company have reshuffled this title-hopeful roster quite extensively with their wheeling and dealing ways over the last few months.
However, despite the numerous A-grade worthy happenings Oklahoma City has taken part in, none seem to top the late-June trade that saw the club land the highly-coveted 3-and-D wing Alex Caruso from the Chicago Bulls.
At least, that's what coaches, scouts, and executives across the league have alluded to, as the 18 individuals surveyed by ESPN recently declared the deal as the second-best move of the NBA offseason, trailing only Paul George's signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Thunder trading for Alex Caruso tabbed as second-best deal this summer
All throughout last season, Caruso was a name heavily intertwined within the league's trade rumor mill, often being regarded as a highly sought-after talent by championship-contending teams.
From the Milwaukee Bucks to the Golden State Warriors, promising playoff squads were reported to have made offers in pursuit of the veteran's services though, in many instances, Chicago's asking price was tabbed as being a bit too steep, with Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports going as far as to reveal that the team "would need multiple first-round picks to even consider" trading the wing.
With this in mind, the fact that the Thunder managed to add him to their already stacked roster without parting ways with any semblance of future draft capital is undeniably impressive, with one East scout specifically going as far as to call it "crazy."
ALEX CARUSO FOR THE LEAD IN OT.@NBCSChicago | @ACFresh21 pic.twitter.com/UFugs7u70C
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 28, 2023
As noted earlier, Caruso is one of the league's premier 3-and-D wings who has achieved a slew of accomplishments throughout his impressive seven-year NBA career, with headline accolades including two All-Defensive team selections and an NBA Championship.
This past season proved to be the 30-year-old's absolute best, as he would go on to post career-high averages of 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and 40.8 percent from distance.
On top of this, Caruso managed to tie his career high in steals per game with 1.7, set a new career-high in blocks with 1.0 a night, and registered a highly respectable 113 defensive rating and a +2.3 defensive box plus-minus.
While it mustn't be overlooked that in order to acquire the wing Oklahoma City had to part ways with their incredibly talented former lottery-selected guard Josh Giddey, being he was coming off a down season and was an obvious misfit within coach Mark Daigneault's rotation, a simple swap such as this is still without question worthy of the praise it has been receiving of late.