Los Angeles Lakers Rumors: The Lakers are still showing interest in Rajon Rondo, but they are unsure if he fits into their current plans.
The Los Angeles Lakers were quite at the beginning of free agency, but Lakers rumors have picked up in recent days. After striking out early on in free agency, the Lakers finally made a move late Monday night.
Late Monday, the Lakers agreed to their first contract with a free agent. The Lakers and shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope agreed to a one-year, $18 million deal.
It is a great deal for both sides. The Lakers came into the offseason needing a shooting guard after D’Angelo Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets and Nick Young opted out of his deal.
In addition, arguably the two weakest areas of the team were three-point shooting and defense; those happen to be Caldwell-Pope’s strengths.
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In addition to the help on the court, it is also a great move for the Lakers financially. The Lakers were hellbent on keeping their salary cap clean beyond 2017 as they want to be big players in 2018. They accomplish that by giving Caldwell-Pope a one-year balloon deal.
With Caldwell-Pope being signed, the Lakers are using up their available cap space. The Lakers roster now sits at 14 players. Los Angeles still has the $4.3 million mid-level exception at their disposal if they want to sign another player.
One player to keep an eye on for the exception is point guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo and the Lakers were linked together earlier in the offseason. Rondo also reportedly met with Magic Johnson in Los Angeles on Monday as well. Now, Los Angeles Daily News Lakers reporter, Mark Medina, has an update.
According to Medina, the Lakers are unsure if he fits into their plans. They still have interest in signing Rondo, but they is still a matter of seeing that through Medina says.
I'm told the Lakers have not decided yet on if Rajon Rondo fits into their plans.
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) July 12, 2017
Lakers still have interest in Rondo. There's still a matter of seeing that through. https://t.co/kFVQEi7euG
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) July 12, 2017
This will be something to keep an eye on in the coming day. The Lakers have been linked to point guard Tyler Ennis, who played with the team last season. They could give part of their mid-level exception to him, or potentially use it on Rondo.
Right now, the Lakers do not have a true backup point guard. Jordan Clarkson should go back to his sixth man role with Caldwell-Pope in the fold. He has experience playing point guard, so he could conceivably fill the role for the Lakers.
It will be something the Lakers will have to discuss and decide. Do they need to sign a veteran such as Rondo to help tutor Ball? Or would Ennis be a better fit as the third guard with Clarkson taking over as the backup point guard and someone such as David Nwaba or Josh Hart is the backup shooting guard?
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There are positives and negatives to each decision. The Lakers will have to figure out which route they want to go, as both Ennis and Rondo could fit into a role with the team.