Alex Caruso contract extension: Thunder guard agrees to reported 4-year, $81-million deal

The Oklahoma City Thunder and veteran guard Alex Caruso have agreed to a multi-year extension, the team announced Sunday evening. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the deal is worth $81 million over four years.

Caruso became extension eligible Saturday morning, six months after he was traded from Chicago for guard Josh Giddey. The $81 million was the maximum Caruso was eligible to extend for.

“I think it's clear that he fits a lot of the characteristics and the criteria that we value,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in September when asked about the likelihood of a Caruso extension. … But we know him to a degree, the early stage. We know enough to want to have him here for a really long time based on his performance at his different stops but the human that we know from having been around him in the short time that he was here.”

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Caruso has played 19 games with Oklahoma City and helped lift the Thunder’s No. 1 rated defense, even through the extended absences of both Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. A two-time All-Defensive Team member, Caruso has only bolstered his reputation in OKC.

As of Sunday night, Caruso ranks sixth in the league in steals per game (1.89) and seventh in deflections per game (3.7). Inside second units still being tinkered with, Caruso has been a mainstay, the ultimate disruptor and a defensive anchor. He was on the floor to close the Thunder’s 104-97 Friday night win over the Miami Heat, securing the game-clinching offensive rebound.

Through his first 13 games in a Thunder uniform, Caruso struggled with 3-point efficiency, making just 20.5% of his 3s on three attempts per game. In the six games since, he’s made 37.5% of his 3s on four attempts per game.

Caruso’s presence remains significant — especially in Holmgren’s absence, often standing in as a power forward and center — for a team that’s won a Western Conference-leading 22 games through defensive activity and turnovers.

When asked about Caruso’s impact thus far, coach Mark Daigneault has often said that it feels like the 30-year-old has been with the team “for three years” – a note of how well he’s integrated himself.

Now, the franchise will lock Caruso up through the summer of 2029.

Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman.

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Alex Caruso stats

• 2024-25 season: 19 games, 5.7 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game

• Career: 382 games, 6.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.8 APG

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Alex Caruso, Oklahoma City Thunder agree to contract extension