When the deal happened 11 months ago, this was the Associated Press headline: _Thunder trades guard Josh Giddey to Bulls for Alex Caruso._
**NBA Western Conference finals**
**Best-of-seven**
**Game 1:** No. 6 Minnesota at No. 1 OKC, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN.
**Game 2:** Minnesota at OKC, Thursday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN.
**Game 3:** OKC at Minnesota, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., ABC.
**Game 4:** OKC at Minnesota, Monday, 7:30 p.m., ESPN.
**Game 5 (if necessary):** Minnesota at OKC, Wednesday, May 28, 7:30 p.m., ESPN.
**Game 6 (if necessary):** OKC at Minnesota, Friday, May 30, 7:30 p.m., ESPN.
**Game 7 (if necessary):** Minnesota at OKC, Sunday, June 1, 7 p.m., ESPN.
As the story focused primarily on Giddey, the reader had to dive to the eighth paragraph to score details on a new Oklahoma City player: _The 30-year-old Caruso, who plays point guard and shooting guard, has established himself as a defensive presence in four years with the Los Angeles Lakers and then three years with the (Chicago) Bulls._
Today, Caruso is a 31-year-old and already irreplaceable presence on the Oklahoma City roster, and his popularity seemed to skyrocket during the Thunder’s seven-game conquest of Denver in the NBA’s Western Conference semifinals.
Any minute now, it is expected that OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be presented with the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.
In a lower-case sense, Caruso is an mvp.
At any given time — like during Sunday’s Game 7 victory — Caruso’s defensive ferocity changes games. As OKC recovered from an unsettlingly sluggish start in Game 7, the former Texas A&M Aggie was OKC’s most valuable player.
Alex Caruso celebrates the Oklahoma City Thunder's Game 7 victory over Denver.
Kyle Phillips, AP Photo
You sometimes hear it said that an elite defender can effectively guard any of the five opposing players. It’s rarely actually true, but with Caruso it’s true. There were times during the Denver series when the 6-foot-5, 186-pound Caruso was attached defensively to the world’s best player — 6-11, 285-pound Nikola Jokic.
The Oklahoma City series must have been miserable for Jokic, who would contend with the length of OKC’s Chet Holmgren, and then with the length and strength of OKC’s Isaiah Hartenstein, and occasionally with the physicality of Lu Dort, and then with relentless tenacity of Caruso.
A former Texas A&M Aggie, Caruso deserves limitless credit for the Thunder’s advancement to a Western Conference finals clash with the very, very dangerous Minnesota Timberwolves.
The NBA’s Final Four: in the Eastern Conference, the third-seeded New York Knicks (who vanquished defending champion Boston in seven games) and the dynamic, fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers; and in the Western Conference, the top-seeded Thunder and the sixth-seeded Timberwolves.
A few months ago, ABC-ESPN executives might have fantasized about a Finals match-up of the Los Angeles Lakers and Celtics — another chapter in the NBA’s most storied rivalry, with Luka Doncic and LeBron James as Laker teammates. Television ratings would have been massive.
Instead, Oklahoma City and the Knicks are favored to reach the Finals. According to BetOnline.ag, there is a 78% likelihood that OKC wins in the West and a 61% likelihood that the Knicks are victorious in the East.
Oklahoma City vs. New York. The Bible Belt vs. Broadway.
The Thunder has surged to the conference finals for the fifth time since 2011. New York pursues its first championship since 1973.
It would be idiotic, however, to dismiss Minnesota as a real threat. In four regular-season meetings, OKC was 2-2 against the Timberwolves.
Minnesota is driven by one great player, Anthony Edwards, and a supporting cast that includes the suddenly formidable Julius Randle and an elite rim-protecting defender in big man Rudy Gobert.
No one within the Thunder building would ever talk about it, but there has to be great relief that Jalen Williams had a special performance in Game 7 against the Nuggets. It was a 24-point, 10-of-17 shooting performance, after OKC’s No. 2 offensive option had been a combined 10-of-43 on his shots in Games 4, 5 and 6.
Had Williams dragged a slump into the next round, it might have become an awful problem.
During the Game 7 postgame news conference, Caruso seemed to answer more questions than any teammate. Most of those questions centered on his and the Thunder’s defensive identity.
“We’re trying to be ruthless,” Caruso said.
After only 27 regular-season games, Thunder general manager Sam Presti had seen enough of Caruso to know that he wanted to see a lot more. Three days before Christmas, it was announced that OKC had signed Caruso to an $81 million contract that extends through the 2028-29 season.
Apparently, Presti by that time realized what the rest of us now see: that Caruso can be and frequently is an mvp for a young Thunder team that may be destined for an NBA Finals experience.