Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso is feared to have suffered a “significant left ankle sprain” during Wednesday’s win over the Atlanta Hawks, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Caruso suffered the injury early in the third quarter after a midcourt collision with 279-pound teammate Andre Drummond. Drummond, running full speed in an attempt to stop a Hawks fastbreak, inadvertently bowled Caruso over. As Caruso stayed down, he grimaced in pain, holding his left ankle.
Bulls staffers looked on in disbelief.
Caruso didn’t return to the court after the 9:43 mark, with the recently signed Javonte Green stepping in for him. He finished the contest with six points, two assists, and one steal in 17 minutes. Perhaps the best evidence of Caruso’s impact is that All-Star guard Trae Young had five turnovers in the first half. In the second half, Young only had one.
A dogged backcourt defender with great length at 6-foot-5, his absence is untimely.
The Bulls have to win their upcoming Play-In game against the Miami Heat in order to reach the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The Heat won’t be at full strength either, missing starters Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier. Nonetheless, Miami wing Tyler Herro is still a dangerous scorer, averaging 20.8 points per game this season.
Replacing Alex Caruso
If Caruso can’t go, the Bulls can rely on Green and Ayo Dosunmu defensively. Athletic and sturdily built, they can help slow Herro and others down at the point-of-attack. Furthermore, both wings have shown that they can knock down outside jumpers at a consistent rate. This season, Green is shooting 37.0 percent from 3. Dosunmu is shooting 40.3 percent from 3.
Lastly, Dosunmu has made massive strides as a facilitator this season. Averaging 5.2 assists per game after the All-Star Break, he has the best chance of replicating Caruso’s impact. To that point, though Caruso largely plays off-ball, he’s still averaging 3.5 assists per game. On a team with as many offensive weapons as the Bulls, their playmaking will go a long way towards them maximizing their offensive potential.
To that point, though DeMar DeRozan can consistently create for himself, performances such as the one that Coby White had against the Hawks aren’t to be relied upon. Going 15-21 from the field, White scored a game-high 42 points on a heavy diet of isolation plays.
This season, only 5.4 percent of White’s field goal attempts came from isos. White scored 0.82 points per possession on these attempts, shooting 37.7 percent from the field.
Notably, 14.8 percent of the passes White received last season came from Caruso. However, with Dosunmu delivering the ball, White may have a better chance of scoring. White made just 31.9 percent of his 3s when his mentor passed him the ball but 41.3 percent of his 3s when Dosunmu dished out a pass.
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