If some posters are still scratching their heads a bit on how Alex Caruso may very well put his toes on an NBA court this next season for at least a game or two wearing a Lakers uniform, some interviews with Luke Walton as well as the Laker's GM during the past couple of summer league games shed some insight into their thought process.Aston04 said:
Can't fill up the basket in the summer= no NBA roster at guard.
Needs to go Euro or Asia. Make as money as possible for his window.
Besides being a guy that plays really hard on defense and has good size and athleticism for the PG spot, apparently it is some similarities between Caruso's game and Lonzo Ball's game that they also really like.
Both Walton and the GM in their comments compared Caruso's game directly to Lonzo Ball as a guy who is a pass-first guard that likes to really push the ball up and distribute. They opined that with Caruso primarily playing for the G-League South Bay Lakers team, they feel that their G-League squad can easily play the same sets and style as their regular Lakers team, thus making it a more seamless transition for players who are moving back and forth between those two rosters. And if Caruso himself is called up then he could more easily just plug into the same system.
So Caruso besides obviously working hard also had a 'right time and place' opportunity, due to some aspects of his game that make him a 'Lonzo Ball-lite' at the moment, and Lonzo Ball is the guy whom the Lakers are planning to center their playing style around next season.