Alex Caruso is nearing a return to the Bulls' lineup: 'We're close'

Alex Kennedy
Mar 11 2022

Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso is nearing a return from a fractured right wrist. On Friday, he practiced in full for the first time since the injury occured against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 21.
 
"We're close," Caruso told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “We haven’t talked about specific target yet. I think we’re just trying to take it day-by-day to make sure it passes each test. Wake up [Saturday], hopefully no soreness that will hold me back and go from there."
 
When asked about Caruso potentially returning for Saturday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, neither Caruso nor head coach Billy Donovan ruled it out.
 
This season, Caruso has averaged 8.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals on .429/.345/.814 shooting splits. Chicago has missed Caruso, especially on the defensive end.
 
Caruso was injured when Bucks guard Grayson Allen committed a flagrant-two foul that many felt was dirty. Allen was ejected and subsequently suspended for one game without pay.

“I’m over it,” Caruso said when asked about Allen's foul. “As far as the play and all that, I can't do anything to change it. The only thing I can do is figure out how I'm gonna get better, how I'm gonna get the team better, how we can win games.

"The six weeks was pretty frustrating, just not being out there with the guys and seeing them win a handful of games in a row, lose a handful of games in a row. The emotions of the season go up and down. So for me, it was just about trying to compartmentalize all that, focus on what I can control and kind of just get back to hoops.”

Caruso said that he never heard directly from Allen following the incident.

“I mean, he is who he is, I am who I am, people are who they are,” Caruso said. “I don't know him that well. The only thing I know is from past history and instances, so that's all I can really go off of. I really don't know too much what you're supposed to do in that case and situation in the NBA, if there's unwritten rules about it. But I think people are who they are and you can't really change that.”