Bulls Trade Rumors: Alex Caruso 'Basically Untouchable' as 'He's the Culture' for CHI

If the Chicago Bulls are going to be sellers at the trade deadline, don't expect Alex Caruso to be one of the players on the move.

Per Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Caruso is "basically untouchable" because of how important he is for the Bulls.

"He's the culture," one source told Cowley.

Cowley noted the Bulls have a top-five defensive rating of 110.7 when Caruso plays, but it drops to 116.8 when he isn't on the floor. He ranks second in the NBA in defensive-box plus/minus with a 3.4 rating, per Cowley.

Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer said on a recent episode of his podcast (h/t CBS Sports' Sam Quinn) that the Bulls would want two first-round draft picks in a trade for Caruso.

Despite their 23-26 record, it doesn't appear the Bulls are going to go into seller mode during the season. Quinn noted there doesn't appear to be any traction on deals involving DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.

Per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, rival executives are under the impression that none of DeRozan, LaVine and Nikola Vučević are going to be moved.

Caruso's defense and contract make him an appealing trade target. The 28-year-old has one more guaranteed year on his deal and a partial guarantee of $3 million for 2024-25.

The Bulls are currently the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference. They are only four games behind the sixth-seeded Miami Heat for a guaranteed playoff berth.