Los Angeles Lakers: 3 players Rob Pelinka should not have signed
2. Rajon Rondo
According to Bleacher Report’s day five free agency big board, Rajon Rondo was the ninth-best free agent still available.
Alex Caruso, on the other hand, wasn’t on Bleacher Reports free agency big board, or any major websites list of best available players. In fact, most writers around the country probably don’t know who Alex Caruso is. That doesn’t matter though, because Caruso is a much better point guard than Rajon Rondo.
Compare Rondo and Caruso’s 2018-2019 statistics:
Rajon Rondo:
- 113.3 defensive rating (361st out of all players in the NBA who played a minimum of 15 MPG)
- -1.38 defensive real plus/minus (78th out of point guards in the NBA)
- -10.5 net rating (last on the Lakers)
- 10 PPG, 8 APG, 36 3P%, and 46 eFG%
Alex Caruso:
- 102.4 defensive rating (16th out of all players in the NBA who played a minimum of 15 MPG)
- 0.77 defensive plus-minus (12th out all shooting guards in the NBA)
- 5.6 net rating (6th on the Lakers)
- 9 PPG, 3 APG, 48 3P%, and 51 eFG%
Is Alex Caruso one of the best defenders in the league like his advanced stats show? No.
Is he going to shoot close to 50% from distance next season? No again.
However, Alex Caruso’s still a top-20 defensive point guard in the NBA, who at 6-5 has the height to bother opposing point guards and the quick feet needed to stay in front of his assignment.
He’s not the best 3-point shooter in the league like his average indicates, but he has good lift on his jump shot and a clean stroke. It’s easy to envision Alex shooting 40% from beyond the arc next season.
Rajon Rondo’s got the name power and if you asked most Lakers fan who’d they prefer as LA’s starting point guard they’d say, Rondo. He’s the wrong choice, though.
Alex Caruso should play over Rondo, because excluding passing, Caruso is better in every facet of the game than Rajon Rondo.
I haven’t even mentioned the other point guard the Lakers also signed; Quinn Cook.
Cook should also play over Rondo because he has a 42% career 3-point average on three attempts per game, which means that he can help space the floor for LeBron James and Anthony Davis to run pick and rolls.
The Lakers depth chart at the point guard position should look like this next season:
Caruso/Cook/Rondo
If you think I’m wrong, compare all three players contracts:
- Alex Caruso: two-year, $5.5 million contract
- Quinn Cook: two-year, $6 million contract
- Rajon Rondo: two-year, veteran minimum contract ($2.5 million per year)
According to each point guards contract, even the Lakers front office believes Rondo’s the least valuable player.
If Frank Vogel does what’s best for the team and he sits Rondo at the end of the bench that means that Rajon “Mercurial” Rondo is going to start to get mad and then he’s going to begin to sulk, which isn’t good for the Lakers chemistry.
The Lakers were very smart to sign Alex Caruso and Quinn Cook, but instead of inking Rondo they should have gone after a young and hungry point guard who would play hard in very limited minutes.
Rob Pelinka should have struck a deal with Justin Holiday, a player who performed well for the Grizzlies during the second half of last season after he was traded from the Bulls.