9 players the Rockets can land for Victor Oladipo

3. Alex Caruso

Alex Caruso is one of the better defensive guards in the league, as he embraces his role of containing the opposing team's best scorer. He was recently rewarded with a First-Team All-Defensive selection- a long-time goal of his.

Caruso has always had a high basketball IQ, which has surely helped morph him into a defensive ace. His defense was a rather significant reason for the Bulls' fifth-place finish in defensive efficiency, despite not having many formidable defenders on the roster.

For a Rockets team that ranked bottom-five in defensive efficiency in each of the last three years, he'd do wonders in that department. Caruso is also an underrated 3-point shooter, as evidenced by a career shooting clip of 36.5 percent, which is nearly identical to how he fared from long-range last season.

Acquiring Caruso from the Bulls won't be an easy task, although an Oladipo-for-Caruso swap works mathematically, as the Bulls reportedly held a belief that Caruso could net them first-round draft capital. In other words, the Bulls would have to believe their window for being a contender in the East was shut closed.

For the Rockets, parting with a first-round pick down the road wouldn't be a bad idea, as he's still just 29-years-old and under contract through 2025, with the 2024-25 season containing a partial guarantee on his contract.