When the Thunder renewed Caruso's contract for 4 years and 81 million, my first reaction was that the renewal price of Laker Reaves was too cheap. In the summer of 2023, Reaves signed a four-year, $56 million extension with the Lakers.

Why did Caruso and Reeves be linked? Because these two have similar career trajectories, they both started from the Lakers' draft and became famous step by step. The difference is that the Lakers gave up Caruso for Tucker, and the Lakers, who made a mistake once, didn't let Reaves go again.

After leaving the Lakers, Caruso signed a four-year, $37 million contract with the Bulls, which became one of the most cost-effective contracts in the league in the following years, especially after Caruso, who was always on the defensive line, further developed his three-point practice.

Caruso averaged a career-high 10.1 points per game with the Bulls last season and shot 46.8 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three-point range. On the defensive end, Caruso has been the league's top perimeter defender.

Last season, Caruso averaged 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, with a steal and block rate of 2.9% and 3.5%, respectively. In addition, Caruso averaged 3.7 interferences per game, leading the league. That's why Caruso has been named to the All-Defensive Second Team and All-Defensive First Team over the past two seasons.

Maybe it's also because Caruso played too well, and the Bulls, who are already in a semi-rebuilding state, are unwilling to give Caruso another big contract. That's why it took the offseason to make a deal with the Thunder, with Giddey and Caruso swapping owners.

Is Caruso good for Thunder? The answer, of course, is yes. In fact, Caruso's ability is perfectly suitable to any playoff team. This season, Caruso is the most efficient defender in the league, averaging 1.9 steals per game. The Thunder have three players averaging more than 1.8 steals per game, Alexander, Jay and Caruso.

The Thunder have led the league in defensive efficiency and steals this season, and the addition of Caruso is the icing on the cake. But the problem is that Caruso's offensive touch this season is completely inadequate.

Caruso is 30 years old this year, averaging 5.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game, shooting 38.5% from the field and 27% from three-point range.

Of course, if you want to find a reason, Caruso has taken on a lot of defensive tasks that shouldn't have belonged to him in the 19 games he has played this season, such as defending the center at the top. When the Thunder put on the five-small line, Caruso is often the role of the five, and the defensive end often needs to guard him small.

Being excessively consumed on the defensive end will naturally affect the feel on the offensive end. When Chet returns from injury, Caruso will naturally face less defensive pressure, and he will definitely feel a little warmer. In fact, Caruso's three-point shooting percentage had already rebounded to 37.5% in December.

Still, it's unlikely that Caruso will return to the offensive level of the Bulls' final season, after all, Caruso hasn't been a reliable shooter throughout his career.

Looking at it this way, Caruso's 4-year contract of 81 million is still a little premium. This is the largest contract he can get for an early extension, and the Thunder have given Caruso enough sincerity. For an undrafted player who has signed a contract of more than $100 million in his career, it must be inspirational.

But Caruso was 31 years old when the contract began. In the final year of his contract, Caruso was 35 years old. It is foreseeable that in the second two years of the contract, Caruso's form will inevitably decline, and the premium situation will be even more serious at that time.

Of course, for the Thunder, maintaining the depth of the current roster is more important than considering whether the contract premium is or not. In recent months, they have offered three of these slightly encouraging contract extensions.

In addition to the four-year, $81 million extension of Caruso, this offseason they signed Isaiah Joe to a four-year, $48 million extension, and Aaron Wiggins to a five-year, $47 million extension. If you play it, it's a value-for-money contract, and if you can't play it, you'll fall into the middle-class trap like the former lone ranger.

But the Thunder have enough cards to handle these potentially premium contracts, they have too many first-rounders in their hands and too many assets to trade. Dealing with the contract is not a difficult task for Presti at all, and this is also the confidence he has to give the player a long-term contract.

The Thunder's salary situation has been very good in recent years, so even if Caruso's 20 million contract starts to be executed next season, they are still more than 10 million away from the tax line, and there is still a lot of room for operation.

But the Thunder's salary status will explode from the 26-27 season, and Jayway and Chet's contract extensions will begin that season. So if the Thunder can't go further within two years, the Thunder may consider changing directions.

The story of the cultivation system is beautiful, but if you can't make it to the end, separation is also part of growth.