Interesting, Thunder Caruso plays the Nuggets in Game 7 plus-minus +40, fans criticize the Bulls for selling him at a low price

NBA fans accused the Bulls of failing to maximize his trade value after Alex Caruso performed well in Game 7 of the Thunder’s victory over the Nuggets.

Alex Caruso performed well in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Playoff Western Conference Semi-Finals, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Denver Nuggets. This has sparked criticism from NBA fans of how the Chicago Bulls handled the defender.

In the 26-minute game, Caruso scored 11 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. He made 5 of 7 shots, including 1 of 3 three-pointers. His plus or negative values ​​also reached +40, which means the Thunder's net score was 40 points higher than the Nuggets when he was on the court.

This made him create NBA playoff history and became the second player to have a plus-minus value or more than +40 on the bench since the 1997-98 season. His partner, Shay Gilgers-Alexander, speaks out about this historic achievement of his teammates.

"He is a player who can handle the challenge," Gilgers Alexander said.

This has led NBA fans to accuse the Bulls of not getting enough chips when trading Caruso to the Thunder in the 2024 offseason. The initial deal was to send the defender to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Gidey and a trade special. "Sports News" senior journalist Stephen No, pointed out that the Chicago Bulls could have obtained multiple draft picks to maximize Caruso's trade value.

"The Thunder have so many draft picks, but the Bulls can't even get a draft pick exchange 😂," Noh commented.

Alex Caruso's performance in the Bulls' career

For the Bulls, they did not take advantage of the trading value of Alex Caruso, especially with the Thunder having so many draft picks, which is undoubtedly cruel.

Nevertheless, they got the strong player Josh Gidey, who proved his efficiency and led the team into the playoffs. While this shouldn't be the true ceiling for the Bulls, it's clear that they need to continue to accumulate through the NBA draft and gain long-term favorable assets through solid trades.

Caruso played for the Bulls for three seasons, helping the team to reach the NBA playoffs in 2022, their first promotion to the playoffs since 2017. He proved himself to be one of the best outside defenders in the league, putting pressure on the team's star players every game.

Caruso played 179 games for the Bulls. During this period, he averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He shot 44.8% from the field, with 38.2% from three-pointers and 78.5% from free throws.