Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel recently commented about Rajon Rondo’s role on the team.
The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off their first loss of the season to the Los Angeles Clippers. With some new faces and the Lakers being a bit short-handed, we knew that there would be some early issues for the Lakers.
While Kyle Kuzma was the most notable player out for the Lakers, they were also without Rajon Rondo.
Coming into the season, Rondo’s role on the Lakers was a bit uncertain. Rondo did play a good amount for the Lakers last season, but the results were certainly mixed. While his per-game averages weren’t bad, Rondo really struggled on the defensive end of the court, and the Lakers weren’t all that good as a team with him playing.
Recently, Frank Vogel gave some clarity about what Rondo’s role will be with the Lakers. Here’s what he said via Anthony Irwin of Silver Screen and Roll.
"“I envision Rajon Rondo being a major player for us this year, a 25-30 minute a game guy. Whether he starts or comes off the bench. So that naturally will lighten the load,” Vogel said when asked about the ballhandling burden LeBron James carried in the season-opener."
Seeing Vogel mention Rondo playing about 25-30 minutes a game is very surprising. With the depth that the Lakers added at the point guard spot with Quinn Cook, Avery Bradley, and Alex Caruso coming up from the G-League, those are some significant minutes for Rondo.
If Rondo is going to be playing close to 30 minutes a game, he is going to have to elevate his play. The Lakers will need a far more engaged Rondo on the defensive end of the court to start with. Last season, Rondo was quite poor on that end of the court, and defense is being talked as a priority for the Lakers this season.
Also, the Lakers will need Rondo to space the floor effectively. If Rondo is going to be playing that much, it means he will be on the court a good amount with LeBron James. James thrives with people that are able to make shots around him. While Rondo has improved as a shooter, we will need to see some consistency from him.
With Rondo missing the first game of the season against the Los Angeles Clippers, we will have to wait and see if he is back against the Utah Jazz on Friday night. If he is, monitoring his role will be something to keep an eye on.