LOS ANGELES — Alex Caruso heard the news on the way to his Tuesday morning tee time.
The Heat acquired guard Terry Rozier from the Hornets for veteran guard Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round draft pick.
It was yet another Eastern Conference team looking to make improvements by the Feb. 8 trade deadline while the Bulls continue to sit on their hands.
How did Caruso process the Heat-Hornets deal? In his eyes, the Heat remain just another team they’ll have to get by.
“Yeah, it’s just that time of year,” Caruso said Wednesday. “It started with [the] James [Harden trade] in November, and then slowly deals have gotten done. It’s just another one for the Heat. I saw a couple of their games recently where the box score was like 80-some points, 90-some points . . . I think Terry for them adds another scoring element to a team that needs some of that.
“But as far as we go, I think when we put it on paper like we showed [against the Suns on Monday], when we’re locked in and we’re good, we’re a really good team . . . if there is a move, we’ll be ready for it. If not, put our heads down and go to work.”
That’s kind of the attitude team-wide, and unfortunately maybe from the front office, considering how executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas firmly planted his flag on “Continuity Hill’’ for the last few seasons.
While sources continue to insist that there is still no trade market for Zach LaVine — who has openly said he would be up for going elsewhere — the Bulls remain very quiet on the idea of possibly pivoting and looking to trade Caruso or DeMar DeRozan, who is on an expiring contract.
With just seven games left before the deadline, there is growing momentum that the Bulls could stand pat. Coach Billy Donovan said nothing that insisted otherwise.
“The one thing that’s hard that I’m not always privy to in the front office is to have a deal, it takes two,” Donovan said. “You can sit there and do a lot of different things but maybe the asking price is too much for it or there’s just nothing there, someone might not be interested. So Arturas and [GM] Marc [Eversley] are always looking for ways to get better, but sometimes you need to have a willing partner to work with.”
It could get interesting, however, if Lowry, who played with DeRozan with the Raptors, gets bought out by the Hornets and becomes a free agent. Would the Bulls then be interested?
DeRozan’s answer was obvious when was asked if Lowry would be a fit.
“Kyle will fit anywhere that I’m at,” DeRozan said.
But DeRozan is also one to stay out of front-office business. Lowry as a free agent could change that.
“If it was asked,” DeRozan said, when asked if he would break his own code about staying in his own lane. “If that was something he wanted to do, for sure. Why not? That’s one of my closest friends, one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with since I’ve been in the league, so why not.”
But what if there’s no Lowry, no deals coming, just the same old roster for the remainder of the season, especially with the Knicks, Raptors, Pacers and Heat each being aggressive the last month?
“Man, we can beat anybody,” DeRozan said. “I don’t worry about playing against or going against anybody in this league. So my confidence is at an all-time high with this team.”
Caruso agreed. Then again, his confidence should be high. After all, he did end up shooting an 83 Tuesday.
