Lakers: Is Alex Caruso Better Than Russell Westbrook Right Now?

Is LA's current starting point guard worse than its previous reserve point guard?

When your Los Angeles Lakers went all-in on 2017 MVP point guard Russell Westbrook in a depth-depleting trade this past summer, it felt like, at best, a calculated risk. LA was hoping to add the 2017 MVP to join four-time MVP LeBron James and All-Defensive big man Anthony Davis, but now, 27 games into the season, it appears clear that this is an altogether different Russell Westbrook.

Brodie's counting stats remain impressive at first blush, but it's pretty clear he has lost a step athletically. The 14-year pro is averaging 19.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 1.2 steals a night. His shooting from the floor has actually been respectable. He is connecting on 44.9% of his field goal attempts, a tally that includes a 49.1% conversion percentage within the arc and 32.4% on 4.1 attempts beyond it.

Westbrook, never a great defender, has looked totally out of sorts on that end as a Laker. His late-game problems have gotten even worse this season, as he frequently makes strange decisions in high-pressure fourth quarter situations, be it careless defensive coverage lapses or desperate three-point heaves through traffic early in the shot clock. A good passer and rebounder for his position, Westbrook is nevertheless an awkward fit next to LeBron, due to his issues as a defender and jump shooter.

For the past two seasons, the Lakers sported one of the best defenses in the NBA. In adding Westbrook, plus a billion shooters who can't guard anybody, during the 2021 offseason, LA team president Rob Pelinka sacrificed the switchable defense that helped the club win a title in 2020 on the altar of revamping its offense.

The Lakers are currently the sixth seed in the Western Conference, with a middling 14-13 record. Injuries to 36-year-old LeBron James may have played a part in some of the club's losses early on, but at the same time, James is in his 19th NBA season. It is unreasonably to expect Miami Heat-era durability or two-way impact at this juncture.

Looking back on that fateful Westbrook trade (which sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and a 2021 first round pick to the Washington Wizards), it really feels like James wanted to recapture the kind of team building that Pat Riley employed during LBJ's title-winning running with the Heat: three superstars surrounded by veteran role players. Unfortunately, Russell Westbrook is no longer a superstar, LeBron James appears to be getting the kinds of injuries he's largely avoided throughout his career to this point (Father Time is undefeated, as Charles Barkley would say), and Anthony Davis appears to have lost a lot of his outside shooting touch.

One of the big pieces that Los Angeles gave up over the summer was reserve guard Alex Caruso. As Wosny Lambre of The Ringer and Jovan Buha of The Athletic discussed recently, the Lakers opted to bet on the future of 21-year-old wing Talen Horton-Tucker, while betting on the past of basically the rest of their roster, outside of new free agent signings Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk, neither of whom plays any effective defense. This meant moving on from Alex Caruso, also a free agent in 2021. Caruso instead inked a new four-year, $37 million deal with the Chicago Bulls.

Caruso, always a great defender, solid jump shooter off the catch, and decent finisher, has emerged as the head of the snake when it comes to the defense of his new club, the 17-9 Chicago Bulls, one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Caruso is returning from a hamstring injury tonight to help a club that has been hit in a big way by COVID-19 try to steady their ship against an injury-depleted Miami Heat club.

The Texas A&M alum was a perfect fit next to James during their three seasons together at the Staples Center. He rarely needed the rock in his hands, and could always be counted on to guard any player along the perimeter. The 6'4" 27-year-old has reached another level with Chicago, although his counting stats are considerably more modest than Westbrook's. In a much more limited role than Westbrook, Caruso currently boasts fairly conservative averages of 8.5 points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 assists, and 2.2 steals a game. He is connecting on 44.2% of his looks from the floor, including 33.3% of his 3.0 triple attempts (he is averaging 37% from deep over the course of his career, though). He is also nailing 85.7% of his 2.1 looks at the charity stripe.

Along with another former Laker that LA could really use right now, starting point guard Lonzo Ball, Caruso has proven to be an essential part of the fulcrum of the Bulls' impressive defense. The team currently sports a 106.7 defensive rating, good for the sixth-best defensive rating in the NBA. The Lakers slot in at a fairly mediocre 12th in their defensive rating.

Since going undrafted in 2017, Caruso has emerged as one of the best wing defenders in the entire NBA. He does not need the ball in his hands to be effective, unlike Russell Westbrook, the fourth pick in. Russ has proven himself to be significantly better in the role his teams have required of him than Westbrook has been as the lead guard and prime scorer for a team with supposed championship aspirations. 

In terms of advanced stats, Caruso boasts a better Value Over Replacement Player (0.6 vs. 0.2), Defensive Box Plus Minus (2.5 vs. -0.9), Box Plus Minus (1.5 vs. -1.0) and Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (.149 vs. .067) than Westbrook. Obviously, there's plenty of noise surrounding these stats, as Caruso players significantly fewer minutes than Westbrook and, as a reserve, suits up more frequently against other teams' bench lineups than does Russ.

Is Alex Caruso a better player, right now, than Russell Westbrook? He is better at what he needs to do than Russell Westbrook is, though they fulfill different functions. I would still give Russ the edge. He shoulders plenty of responsibility as a lead ball handler and when he dials in can still look a lot like 2017 Russell Westbrook, and Caruso will never possess the handles or be capable of the high-level passing of even this past-his-prime iteration of Russ. That said, these two players much more equivalent than their contract disparities (Westbrook is making $44.2 million, while Carushow is making $8.6 million this season) would indicate. And I certainly trust Caruso late in games more than Russell Westbrook.