The Chicago Bulls have reportedly traded guard Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for swingman Josh Giddey, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday (June 20).
"BREAKING: The Chicago Bulls are trading two-time All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for guard Josh Giddey, sources tell ESPN," Wojnarowski wrote on his X account. "Caruso is entering the final year of his deal and becomes eligible for a four-year, approximately $80M extension exactly six months from the date of this trade. The Thunder made the trade with the hope to have Caruso as an integral player for the long-term."
Caruso signed a four-year, $37 million deal with the Bulls as a free agent in August 2021 and had career-best totals in games started (57), games played (71), points per game (10.1), rebounds per game (3.8), steals per game (1.7), blocks per game (1.0), field goal percentage (.468) and minutes per game (28.7).
Giddey was accused of having an improper relationship with an underage girl last November, but never charged as investigators found no corroborating evidence after previously claiming the girl and her family refused to cooperate with officials. The Australian native averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game during the 2023-24 season.
The Thunder finished the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference before being eliminated by the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks in the semifinals of the NBA Playoffs.