Rajon Rondo for many years struggled to shoot anything past mid-range. He has newfound shooting abilities in 2019 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
For so many years with the Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo didn’t have much of a jump shot. He was a passer and used his abilities to kick to shooters. His game was operating down the paint and getting to the basket when he wanted to score.
He just simply shied away from anything mid-range and beyond. His first six years in the league with the Celtics, he never averaged more than one 3-point attempt per game. He took 261 3-pointers over that six-year span and made 63 of them. That’s good for 24.1% which is a dreadful number.
Rondo would go on to play 8 1/2 seasons with the Celtics and knock down 136-of-519 3-pointers with the franchise. Again that adds up to a very dreadful number of 25%. There was no way around it, he was just not cut out to shoot the ball.
Traded to Dallas in 2015, it was a short stay for Rondo as him and Carlisle never got along. But the silver-lining began to take place slowly. Rondo shot 19-of-54 from 3-point range, good for 35.2%, which showed maybe he could shoot after all?
Bouncing around the league the next three seasons to different teams each year, Rondo hit triple digit attempts in 3-pointers each year. Between Sacramento, Chicago and New Orleans he shot a total of 453 3-pointers, which was an average of 151 per year. He made 162 of them, which again continued his trend up to 35.8%.
Building on that, he made a fourth stop in four years to Los Angeles last year. Signing with the Lakers for the 2018-19 season Rondo went on to attempt 142 3-pointers and made 51 of them. Again bumping up to 35.9% in the process, he continued to keep pushing his game to improve his shot.
Now for the best, Rondo for the first time in five years found a place that he could call home for more then a year. Coming back to the Lakers has been the best thing that could’ve happened for him. He has become one of the better 3-point shooters in basketball and has shown his abilities to help this team.
Although only attempting 44 3-pointers so far in the 2019-20 season, Rondo has knocked down 20 of them. That is good for an insane 45.6% rate, which is beyond impressive. He has shown through all the years that his commitment to work on his shot has paid off.
He is helping the Lakers win games and has become a floor spacer. Did you ever think that you would hear the words “Rondo is a floor spacer?” Neither did I, but here we are in 2019 witnessing it.
It’s amazing to see the confidence he has here in his shot, just easing into 3-pointers now. It’s truly another dynamic that makes this Lakers offense even more dangerous. This could turn out to be quite the weapon come playoff time.