Alex Caruso tells Jake Fischer: Signing an extension with the Thunder "would be awesome"

The Thunder swingman became extension-eligible Saturday morning at 12:01 AM. The People's Insider talked to him at length about what the future holds

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Alex Caruso remembers his G League Showcases of yesteryear quite fondly. He even paused our interview on Thursday evening, after Oklahoma City knocked off the hosting Magic, to fact-check the cities and locations of each midseason Showcase he played in.

Fond memories indeed ... even though the veteran Thunder guard, yes, started out as merely a member of the franchise's OKC Blue G League affiliate. He later won the 2018 Showcase Cup with the South Bay Lakers. 

"Those were opportunities for me to play in front of NBA GMs, NBA front offices," recalled Caruso, who went undrafted out of Texas A&M in 2016. "Those are real chances that don't come all the time. That's a guarantee that people are watching."

Those chances helped pave Caruso's way onto the Lakers' main roster, where he unforgettably teamed with LeBron James and helped Los Angeles on its 2020 march to the championship in the Walt Disney World bubble — only miles away from the Kia Center visiting locker room where he and I spoke at length. 

That was before the Chicago Bulls swiped Caruso from the Lakers in 2021 free agency. Before he became one of the NBA's most sought-after trade commodities. Before these Thunder swooped in and acquired Caruso for Josh Giddey in a shocking swap back on June 21.

The trade came exactly six months ago today. Which means this Saturday morning marks the opening hours of a window that makes Caruso eligible to sign a contract extension with the Thunder, which can reach a maximum of $81.1 million over four years.