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Alex Caruso is traveling with the Thunder; his ankle sprain is not believed to be serious. But even with Caruso in the fold, the Thunder will be relying on unproven younger players for big minutes.
For Monday night’s game against the Cavaliers, the Thunder have already listed six players as being out: Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Thomas Sorber, Nikola Topic, Cason Wallace, and Jalen Williams. “Injuries are gonna happen, but part of it’s like, you know, the wear and tear on these guys—maybe you need to reduce that a little bit,” Johnson continued. “The talent you see in the league has never been higher. … Just in terms of watching the guys at the height of their powers, I love the product.”
Grant Afseth: Oklahoma City Thunder Injury Report vs. Dallas Mavericks: QUESTIONABLE: Ajay Mitchell (right ankle sprain) OUT: Alex Caruso (right ankle sprain) Chet Holmgren (right knee patellar tendinitis) Thomas Sorber (right knee surgery) Nikola Topić (low back surgery) Cason Wallace (left shoulder labral tear) Jalen Williams (left ankle fracture)
APHoops: OKC Thunder guard Alex Caruso is expected to miss some time after spraining his ankle last night against the Phoenix Suns, per @ShamsCharania . “There’s going to be some level of time he is likely to be missing as well.”
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Alex Caruso on his emotions following Williams' injury: "There’s no getting around feeling bad for Dub, feeling sorry for him. All the emotions that come with someone getting stretched off the court that’s been through the adversity that he’s been through, it stings. It’s just about being there for him, then being professional when it comes to basketball. There’s no way to sugarcoat it as if you’re not affected by it, you are.”
NBA Trade Machine: Over the past 24 hours, Patrick Williams featured in 5.1% of trades built on HoopsMatic. Within his trades, he landed most often in Minnesota (20.7%), Golden State (19.0%), and Oklahoma City (10.3%). Most often, he was traded for Josh Green (19.0%), Jimmy Butler (19.0%), and Alex Caruso (10.3%).
Appearing on the 'Cousins' podcast with Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, Wallace reflected on his time with Luguentz Dort. The two spent three seasons in OKC together. It's all love between the two as they were two-thirds of their three-headed perimeter-defense monster — alongside Alex Caruso. "Shoutout Lu. In my opinion, the best on-ball guard defender in the league. He’s so solid. He doesn’t gamble too often. He's one of the best," Wallace said. "I’ve learned a lot through Lu. He's one of the best guard defenders in the league for sure. Toughest assignment every night. Easily, it's him."
With Williams expected to return healthy next season, Mitchell, Cason Wallace, Jared McCain, and Alex Caruso in the fold, teams across the league are monitoring fellow starter Lu Dort’s availability. Dort has a team option for $17.22 million for the upcoming season that several front executives who spoke with HoopsHype are projecting the Thunder to exercise, then consider flipping Dort on the trade market. Should such a scenario happen, Dort has been linked with the Lakers and several other teams. It’s worth noting that Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez coached Dort with the Canadian National Team.
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LeBron James: "San Antonio, they're a team that doesn't have ego. They have their personal beliefs on what they can bring to the table. We all do, we're all competitors, but that team is egoless. It's big time to see Josh (Hart) kind of growing to the player that he's in. We always talk about Alex Caruso a lot. It's those certain guys that you can plug into any franchise, any team, and they're going to win because those guys just make winning plays."
Caruso, entering the second season of a four-year, $81 million extension, is considered a firm member of the long-term core, league sources said, proving again his extreme playoff value the past month in the locker room and on the court. Hartenstein and Dort also remained beloved organizationally, but their team options demand a more urgent decision -- opt them into an expiring, opt them out, trade the number at a positive market value or work out a decline-and-extend at a lower starting number.
Justin Martinez: Alex Caruso on his time with OKC so far: "Obviously I signed a long-term contract, so I'm looking forward to being here a few more years. The relationship has been great to me and the Thunder organization. I'm thankful to Sam (Presti) for everything, giving me an extension and trust me enough to be there for this handful of years. We'll see what the future holds next time. I've enjoyed my first two years here. It's been great.“
Joel Lorenzi: Alex Caruso on when he felt San Antonio could be a real threat to OKC: "I didn't speculate just because so much happens in the course of the season, you know? One injury changes the team's entire season. (It's) the reason the Spurs got Dylan Harper. Wemby missed a whole bunch of games with the leg stuff. Sometimes you need the course of NBA seasons to shape up and see what the future is going to be. You can't always predict that."
