This Bulls season has been filled with injuries. From starters to key bench players this Bulls roster has been picked apart with injuries and COVID this year. One player, in particular, had a season filled with bad injury luck. That player is guard Alex Caruso. It started early in the season when Caruso had hamstring issues and missed a week while he rehabbed. After that Caruso had a foot sprain which kept him out another week or so. Then the major incident happened which everyone around the NBA knew about. Milwaukee guard Grayson Allen fouled Caruso hard and ended up fracturing Caruso’s wrist. This kept Caruso out until a month ago. Now here we are in the first round of the playoffs and Caruso finds himself on the injury report.
#Bulls guard Alex Caruso is in concussion protocol, Billy Donovan says.
He's day-to-day, and it's unclear if he'll be available to play Game 5 on Wednesday. The Bulls will know more on his status Tuesday.
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) April 25, 2022
Caruso left game four after being hit in the head/face in the second quarter. It was ruled that Caruso wouldn’t be returning with a facial injury. With this being reported we weren’t sure what that meant for his actual injury. Turns out it was a concussion and Caruso may not see the court again this season. With the Bulls down 3-1, they may only have one game remaining. Caruso has been a difference-maker for the Bulls this series and all-season when on the court. Unfortunately for him, this is just another unfortunate injury to add to the list.
Caruso is the best player on the bench
Looking at the Bulls bench there’s no one close to the level of Caruso. He’s the best player coming off the bench and the fact that he hasn’t been able to play a lot has hurt the Bulls. Caruso only played in 41 games during the regular season but in those games, he averaged 7.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.0 APG, & 1.7 SPG. He was impacting the game on both ends of the floor in every game he played. Caruso is a difference-maker and it goes beyond just the stats. The Bulls not having him at full strength all season is unfortunate. In his short playoff stint for the Bulls, he made an impression on his competitors.
"He's a great defender. Plays hard. Gives everything that he has. Extremely smart. Plays to win. Helps his team in any way possible. Does the little things and that's what makes him special. Unbelievable player."
– Giannis Antetokounmpo on Alex Caruso(Via @NBA)
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) April 21, 2022
Caruso is one of those players who is focused on doing the little things to help the team win. He’s going to be a big piece for the Bulls moving forward. Hopefully, he can go through a season without a bunch of freak injuries. If he can maintain a healthy season the Bulls will be in for a treat next year.
Caruso is the bench captain
Going into next year the Bulls need to retool the bench. Caruso is going to be the 6th man for the Bulls. After that, the Bulls should open it up completely. Find complementary players to Caruso and find people who can shoot well. Caruso can be very effective in many ways. He had 16 games with 5+ assists this season. Surround him with shooters on the bench and that number is only going to increase. Caruso gives the team more chances offensively averaging almost 2 steals per game. If you get better bench players to surround him this team can be dangerous. While we don’t know who the Bulls will add to the bench we do know that Caruso will lead whoever it is.
More news to come
We should have more information on Caruso’s availability tomorrow. The Bulls will benefit from the game being scheduled for Wednesday as that gives Caruso an extra day to get healthy. The Bull’s season is likely going to be coming to an end Wednesday. Having Caruso in the lineup will better their chances but they don’t look like they will make it out of round 1.
It’s unfortunate but Bulls fans should still have hope for what is to come. Knowing Caruso is locked up for the next three seasons is great. He’s only 28 years old and he’s a great player when he can play. Hopefully the news tomorrow is good news. Caruso on the court makes this team better. Whether it be the last game of the season or not, it will be good to see Caruso on the court. We will wait patiently on the Caruso news but either way, most fans know the end is near for this Bulls season.
