Alex Caruso opens up on his ‘full-circle moment’ with Thunder

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Alex Caruso opens up on his ‘full-circle moment’ with Thunder

Josue Pavon · ClutchPoints

Mon, Jun 30, 2025 ·

6 min read

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The post Alex Caruso opens up on his 'full-circle moment' with Thunder appeared first on ClutchPoints .

OKLAHOMA CITY — Upon arriving in Oklahoma City for his first season with the Thunder, Alex Caruso noticed new buildings surrounding familiar roads on the outskirts of downtown. These roads led Alex to his first NBA contract nine years ago while playing for head coach Mark Daigneault in the G League. After earning his second NBA championship, Caruso says winning with the Thunder feels different from winning with the Los Angeles Lakers .

His lone season with the Oklahoma City Blue — the Thunder's G League affiliate — still resonates with the 31-year-old veteran. After a summer league appearance with the Philadelphia 76ers , Caruso, an undrafted rookie, was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder and joined the Blue in 2016. It was his first campaign with the coach who would eventually guide him to his second NBA title, Daigneault, who was in his third season in the G League.

"I don't lose those memories of when I was on the Blue. We'd get home at 1 AM from a connecting flight," Caruso tells ClutchPoints. "I gotta drive 30 minutes to Edmond to the practice facility and drive home, and show up to work the next day. All those things aren't forgotten, and I think the full-circle moment is, honestly, insane, and I probably won't be able to appreciate it for some time. But I'm definitely aware of how rare that is, and how cool that is."

Having Mark Daigneault, who made waves of his own in the NBA after leading the Thunder to 57 wins, a divisional title, and earning Coach of the Year in 2024, by his side makes the Thunder's 2025 championship victory all the more fitting for Caruso. Led by his former G League coach, Daigneault, Caruso played a significant role in their first title in franchise history.

"It's super cool just to be able to share this with him," Caruso said after Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers .

Caruso admits he wasn't the most coachable player, coming in as a frustrated undrafted guard eager to prove himself. Reflecting on his journey, which began with Mark Daigneault, continued with a championship run with the Lakers and a stint with the Bulls , and culminated in a reunion with Mark eight years later to become champions in Oklahoma City, is truly unique.

"It was pretty surreal through the year. Just driving by places in the city that I remember driving by, getting here for the first time. Different places in Edmond," Caruso said. "The exit to go to the practice facility, driving through downtown, and seeing new buildings that weren't there the first time I was here."

Caruso won his first championship with the Lakers in 2020. After joining the Lakers' summer league team in 2017, Alex signed a two-way contract and later agreed to a two-year, $5.5 million deal in 2019. He also earned All-Defensive First Team honors in 2023 after signing a four-year, $37 million contract with the Chicago Bulls in 2021.

Then, the Bulls traded Caruso to the Thunder for Josh Giddey , strengthening the Thunder's backcourt defense alongside guards Lu Dort and Cason Wallace , while adding another three-point shooting threat to the offense.

"Adjusting to the team, for me, was relatively easy. Once I got here, I just started building those relationships with the guys, and I think I'm pretty un-serious off the court as well," Caruso said. "I probably don't show it as much as they do, but that part I fit in pretty well. On the court, I think, made it easier because we realized everybody was focused on the same thing. I and it was really competitive. It was pretty seamless once I got here after a month or two."

Alex Caruso differentiates roles between Thunder, Lakers

Thunder guard Alex Caruso took on a veteran's role with the Thunder, which was one of the many differences between his most recent championship and his ring with the 2020 Lakers. One decade into his career, and all of a sudden, Caruso's the oldest guy on the second-youngest team to win an NBA title.

None of his teammates had ever seen beyond the second round of the playoffs. Caruso admitted that his experience stood out, especially for a young Thunder team that battled through a Game 7 against MVP finalist Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. And an unforgettable NBA Finals against the Pacers, which also went the distance, ending in a 103-91 Game 7 victory for Mark Daigneault and the champion Thunder.

"The biggest difference between those two championships, for me, is probably just where I'm at in my career," Caruso said. "I think the first one, I was surrounded by Hall of Fame players with pedigree, and I was learning, you know? I was trying to figure it out. I think this time — around five, six years later — I knew the answers to the test. So, I was trying to give those out. Help the other guys. Be there for the first time.

"And I think there are some similarities, where I picked it up, and ran with it in 2020. And I think guys who hadn't been there, this time around, did the same, for Oklahoma," Caruso concluded.

Alex Caruso, Mark Daigneault deeply rooted in the G League's Blue

Although Alex Caruso hasn't spent his entire NBA career in Oklahoma City like Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, he feels he has deep roots embedded in the city's fabric, where his improbable journey began, just like many of his veteran teammates. Thunder players such as Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins , and Jaylin Williams , as well as Caruso's NBA path, started in Oklahoma City's G League.

Daigneault can attest to the process of developing scrappy underdogs, as he rose from assistant to head coach of the Thunder in 2020. Similarly, his young prospects, including Caruso, Dort, Wiggins, and Williams, also blossomed into NBA talents. Caruso says it's the from-the-bottom, overachieving underdog approach of Oklahoma City's culture that stands out in contrast to his championship run with the Lakers in the Big City of Angels.

"I think what makes the city, the fanbase, the team so special is just from the roots, you know? That Lakers team was more or less picked from who we wanted to take; signed a bunch of veterans that are, like I said, gonna be in the Hall of Fame or, at least, had won championships before," Caruso told ClutchPoints. "This one was second-round draft picks, a handful of undrafted, traded guys, a couple of free agents, and it was pieced together a little more meticulously.

"And I think a lot of the guys on this team are just starting the beginning of great careers, whereas the other guys were on the end run," Caruso concluded.

It's just the beginning of a promising championship window for Caruso and the young defending champion Thunder.

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