Lakers: Please Do Not Sign Rajon Rondo

The Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear Rajon Rondo is a high priority free agent target. He should not be.

With the Los Angeles Lakers franchise firmly in the abyss of the Western Conference, the 2015 offseason is incredibly important for the organization. Free agency is an area where the Lakers can quickly improve the state of their team, and with so many expiring contracts, the team has significant cap space and is in a great position to make splash.

One of the free agent targets that the Lakers have been consistently linked with is former All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo. A quick glance seemingly confirms that it would be a perfect fit.

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With Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash, and Ronnie Price coming off the books at the end of the season, the Lakers will be searching for a point guard that can fill the void. Rondo, with his pass first mentality and ability to dominate point guards on defense, will be a perfect fit to play alongside an at-the-end-of-the-line Kobe Bryant. Bryant will be able to play off the ball with a point guard he trusts to make the right decisions.

With Bryant sharing a common ultra-competitive bond with Rondo, the chemistry has already been established and Rondo is basically a lock to join the Lakers at the end of year (no matter how awkward they look at lunch). However, if the Lakers really want to start fresh, they should stay as far away as they can from Rondo.

The same cutthroat, competitive nature that brought Rondo close to Bryant will ultimately drive them apart when they are in the same facility. Rondo has been searching for a team where he can be “The Man” after spending time being whipped by Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett. Bryant, even in his relatively elderly state, will hold that title as long as he is with the Lakers. If they are together on the same team, they will butt heads and split the locker room.

Even if one of them concedes control to the other (HA!), and they do get along somehow, the double-headed monster that will be created from their trial-by-fire leadership will break the morale of what will be a young team.

Leadership takes balance and the most successful locker rooms have the stubborn, demanding leader, and the more encouraging one. That is why the latest Lakers championship teams were so successful. Bryant was his demanding self, while Derek Fisher played the role of the good cop, picking up the pieces of Bryant’s mental destruction and building it up again. Steve Nash was supposed to be that calming force, but without him in the locker room, look what happened at the beginning of the season when Bryant’s will alone was forced on the team, resulting in a 13-40 record before the All-Star break.

There is something to be said for mental toughness. If young players cannot handle the verbal lashings or rough demeanor of a teammate in practice, they won’t be equipped to handle being down by four points with a minute left in the game. However, if they are broken down every practice by two players who are so unbending, how is it fair to expect them to be adequately prepared if they are not given the chance to really prove themselves?

One such player may be the point guard that the Lakers really need. Since, receiving a fair shot to develop, Jordan Clarkson has been playing good basketball and showing potential to be a star guard in the NBA. Since January 17, Clarkson has been averaging 14.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.

If Rondo were to be brought in, Clarkson would, at best, be starting at the off guard position with Bryant moved to the small forward, and at worst moved to the bench where he was languishing earlier this year, stunting his development at the position. Sure, Rondo is in his prime and has proven that he is an All-Star, but Clarkson’s talent is so obvious that it is worth taking the risk to see how high he can go on the cheap.

Since head coach Byron Scott started giving Clarkson minutes, the team has been improving. Scott’s stubbornness at the beginning of season to not play Clarkson may have set back his development slightly. It is that kind of stubbornness that will get him into trouble with Rondo if they bring him on board.

Though Scott had a good relationship with Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul, he and Jason Kidd were constantly at odds with one another when they were both on the New Jersey Nets. Scott, the head coach at the time, was fired midseason in 2004, which may not have happened if he had the support of Kidd.

However, he did not. Kidd reportedly asked for a change in leadership after an embarrassing loss and questioned Scott’s coaching decisions in the NBA Finals the year before.

Rondo, like Kidd, is known for his prickly personality in the locker room. Although Rondo is not Kidd, if Scott is put in the same situation with a player that is as talented and as defiantly stubborn like Rondo, it would not bode well for the Lakers or their locker room if they had to deal with a similar power struggle.

Recently, Rondo clashed with Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle after a win over the Toronto Raptors on February 24, which resulted in a one-game suspension for his profanity-laced tirade about play-calling responsibilities. Being competitive is one thing, but being competitive to the point of being suspended is another. If Carlisle and Rondo cannot coexist on a winning team, what chance do Scott and Rondo have? Their histories only point to a destructive result if Rondo is brought onto the Lakers.

Understandably, Rondo will still be sought after to appease the last Will and Testament of Bryant’s career. Still, with Jordan Clarkson developing and his personality still a question, the Lakers will be better served by taking a page from Rondo’s on court script and passing on the opportunity to sign him.

Next: Byron Scott Happy with Jeremy Lin's recent play

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