Oct 30, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; T-shirts depicting a map of the bay area and the new bay bridge Golden State Warriors logo at Oracle Arena before the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Even after the likes of D’Angelo Russell and (second stint) Kent Bazemore didn’t work out so well for them, the Golden State Warriors may be trying for another player from the Los Angeles Lakers factory.

KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reported this weekend that the Warriors are among the teams that have inquired about trading for Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso. Johnson notes that the Bulls rebuffed Golden State (along with the other interested suitors for Caruso) because they were internally focused on chasing a playoff spot at the time.

However, it is fair now to question whether that is still Chicago’s stance. They just got some brutal injury news on one of their top players, and the playoff hopes seem to be fading fast with their record of 23-27 (though they remain in the Eastern Conference play-in zone at ninth).

The 29-year-old Caruso, an NBA champion with the Lakers in 2020, is one of the very best true role players in the league. He was an All-Defensive First Teamer in 2023 and is a major ceiling-raiser on that side of the ball. Caruso also shoots 40.5 percent from deep this season and can provide secondary playmaking duties too.

As for the Warriors, there might not be any trade that transforms them into contenders this season as they have an even worse winning percentage than the Bulls at 21-25. But if they still want to chase their playoff pipe dream, Golden State does have some good cap relief to potentially offer Chicago.