Thunder get even stronger with Alex Caruso as Celtics-like blueprint continues to come into focus

As the NBA world just watched the Boston Celtics roll to one of the most dominant seasons in history and 16-3 playoff run that culminated in a championship, a particular basketball blueprint came into focus. Boston featured five guys who can do everything: Shoot, pass, create, operate on or off the ball, and defend multiple positions, with elite top-end and overall depth. 

It’s not exactly a revelatory concept. Versatility has been the way of the NBA for a while. Still, almost every team has a hole somewhere. Someone who can’t shoot. Someone who can’t defend. At least a sliver of a weakness for opponents to attack. 

But look up and down the Oklahoma City roster, and tell me, where do you see the hole? By trading for Alex Caruso on Thursday, the Thunder, like the Celtics with Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, now have two of the nastiest on-ball defenders in the league (Caruso alongside Lu Dort). Ball pressure is back, baby. The Celtics just squeezed the life out of Dallas. Caruso and Dort are going to wreak the same on-ball havoc. 

Add to that a center in Chet Holmgren, who checks almost all the same boxes as Kristaps Porzingis as an elite, floor-stretching rim protector. There’s Jaylen Williams in the Jaylen Brown role (Brown defended Luka Doncic as well as possible, and Williams led the way in holding Kyrie Irving to 15 PPG in the conference semifinal), with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the Jayson Tatum superstar who draws the double teams, and suddenly the mirror starts to reflect a pretty similar basketball image. 

Everyone can shoot (Caruso was 40% from 3 on almost five attempts per game last season, and Dort was nearly identical to that). Everyone can defend. Everyone can put the ball on the floor. Williams is an elite isolation scorer next to SGA, and yet, OKC doesn’t over-rely on individual creation. The ball moves. So do the players. Did you just watch Holiday feast as a cutter in the Finals? The Thunder can cut you to death. 

For most teams, copying the Boston roster is a pipe dream. The Celtics are an all-time unit with…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/thunder-get-even-stronger-with-alex-caruso-as-celtics-like-blueprint-continues-to-come-into-focus/

Author : Brad Botkin

Publish date : 2024-06-21 14:08:18

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