Los Angeles Lakers: Grading the “Suicide Squad” deals that followed LeBron James
Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo comes to the Lakers after being rumored to come in past years. He will be the team’s solid backup point guard (with the potential to start over Lonzo Ball).
The move was met with scrutiny from Lakers fans since Rondo was paid $9 million on a one-year contract while Julius Randle was allowed to go to the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year, $18 million deal. Randle was beloved by Lakers fans, but there seemed to be more to the departure other than just swapping Randle for Rondo.
Either way, the Lakers will see an upgrade at the backup point guard position whether it be Rondo or Lonzo to start the year, as last year’s backup position was shared by Tyler Ennis and Alex Caruso.
Rondo is still a solid contributor in his 30’s, as he averaged 11.3 PPG and 11.3 APG per 36 minutes for the Pelicans. Even more important than what he can contribute on the court, he seems to be brought in as a mentor to Lonzo and the other young guys. He’ll also push them to places they never even knew existed, as he said he was already studying film on the other Lakers’ tendencies in preparation for training camp.
In regards to his on-court production, Rondo still has the court vision that made him such a great passer on the Celtics, but his terrible defense and sub-par shooting also still exist.
Last year he ranked 44th among all point guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus. Lonzo Ball was actually 3rd among all NBA point guards in the same statistic, so hopefully, the Lakers will elect to have Lonzo on the court in situations where the Lakers need to put the pressure on defensively.
On offense, Rondo’s 3-point shot has always been below average as his career 3P% is 30.9 percent while last year he shot 33.3 percent. Not good for a team that seems in need of shooting.
I definitely see this as more of a “player-coach” type signing more than a purely basketball-based signing. If Rondo wasn’t such a great person to have around the young guys, then the grade would probably be substantially lower.