Sports

Alex Caruso Is Having An All-Time Great Defensive Season For The Thunder

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By
Ben Pfeifer
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Ben Pfeifer Sports Editor

Ben Pfeifer graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in Psychology and Journalism. He has worked in basketball scouting covering the NBA and the draft for over a half-decade, working for various outlets. Now, he covers the NBA, the draft and high school basketball.

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Published03 Mar 2025

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Alex Caruso

Early in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 24, Alex Caruso found himself guarding Naz Reid. It’s a familiar situation for Caruso, who’s spent 14 percent of his time this season at center. He kicks the chair out from under Reid and forces a turnover:

The next time down, Caruso checked Nickeil Alexander-Walker in space, firing his robot hands to create another turnover. He stopped an empty drive in early offense and Isaiah Joe added to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s lead:

Ball-handlers can’t afford to dribble carelessly around Caruso, especially when he’s lurking in help. He digs out Jaden McDaniels’s dribble, single-handedly generating three stops in the span of 40 seconds:

Caruso Has Been Absolutely Dominant

The Thunder lost that game to Minnesota, falling victim to an unfathomable Wolves comeback. Caruso’s performance, however, was tremendous. His one-man dominance appears in nearly every Oklahoma City game. Although he plays under 20 minutes per night, Caruso, on a per-minute basis, is the best defender on the NBA’s best defense, which has slipped some recently.

Impact metrics, fickle as they are, view him as one of the all-time great guard defenders. He ranks fifth since 1977 in lifetime defensive Regularized Adjusted Plus Minus, nestled between Ben Wallace and Draymond Green. He’s having his best defensive season yet, leading the NBA in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (plus-4.5), placing among the best performances of the millennium. 

Oklahoma City’s defense relentlessly turns opposing offenses over and Caruso sits at the center of that game-plan. He makes a strong case as the NBA’s best chaos creator for a defense forcing turnovers on an enormous 17 percent of opponent possessions. Leading the NBA in stop rate (steals, offensive fouls drawn and blocks recovered), Caruso wrecks offensive game-plans.

The Thunder defend with unbridled aggression and Caruso sits at the front of that approach. His ability to take away multiple offensive players at once, especially as an off-ball defender, enables this. When Oklahoma City traps the ball, Caruso’s range, instincts and ground coverage all shine on the perimeter. 

Defensive Versatility

With Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein sidelined for much of the season, Caruso seamlessly adapted. He’s one of the NBA’s most productive rim defenders on a per-possession basis, transcending what guard defenders traditionally do. According to Cleaning the Glass, Caruso never played center before joining the Thunder and is spending a career-high 63 percent of his minutes at the four this year.

Caruso leads the entire NBA (minimum 500 total minutes) in efficiency differential on contests (-10.4 percent) and contests at the rim (-18 percent). His contesting volume at the hoop isn’t as high as many bigs, but the gap between Caruso and second-place Jericho Sims is equal to the distance between second and 12th-place Anthony Davis.

Despite the Thunder rostering two of the NBA’s best defensive centers, he’s played 62.2 percent of his minutes this season without Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein on the court. Yet opposing offenses shoot 7.2 percent worse at the rim with Caruso off the floor, good for the sixth-best differential in the league.

Without the height of a traditional shot blocker, Caruso wins with his quick hands, reflexes and sage-like positioning. Oklahoma City’s aggressive defense often leads to collisions at the rim for Caruso against a bigger driver, and he’s excelled in these spots.

Lineups with Caruso playing center aren’t ideal, as Oklahoma City’s defensive rating jumps over 10 points per 100 possessions when he slides down to the four or three. As special as Caruso is, his size will always bleed value against bigger teams. Still, Oklahoma City’s defense with Caruso at the five this season manages a great 112.1 defensive rating.

The sheer depth Oklahoma City can roll out defensively makes its playoff matchups enticing. When the postseason comes around, will the Thunder lean on Caruso more than they do in the regular season? It would make sense to prioritize their best perimeter defender, especially in matchups against exterior-focused teams.

Caruso’s own injury problems mean we haven’t seen some of Oklahoma City’s most impregnable lineup possibilities. He and Holmgren have played just 94 minutes together, with the Thunder hitting a preposterous 87.8 defensive rating in those minutes. For that to blossom in the playoffs, Caruso’s offense must continue its upward trend.

Offense Is The Question

It took quite some time for him to settle in on offense and overcome a frigid early-season shooting stretch. For much of the season, Caruso was one of the NBA’s least efficient scorers, especially as a jump shooter. But he’s rebounded closer to his career averages, up to 34.1 percent from deep and 44 percent in 2025.

If defenses can sag off Caruso and muck up Oklahoma City’s offense, he might not play as much in the playoffs, especially given the team’s defensive depth. But Caruso, when his shots fall, is one of the most dangerous role players in the NBA, opening up his brilliant connective passing and advantage extending. 

Regardless of what happens when the playoffs arrive, we should celebrate the season Alex Caruso is having. Games and minutes played requirements mean his play won’t earn him All-Defensive Team honors, but those who watched the 2024-25 Thunder will remember his all-time defensive season. 

All stats are accurate prior to games played on March 2.