Rajon Rondo
We all knew that Rajon Rondo would be the Lakers secondary playmaker behind LeBron James. But most fans had no idea if Frank Vogel would be able to give Rajon significant playing time because it wasn’t clear if he’d hit wide-open 3-pointers and stay in front of his man on defense. Thus far, Rondo’s exceeded expectations.
Rondo’s only played in a little over half the Lakers games thus far, but when he’s suited up, he’s been excellent.
Throughout the previous five seasons, after the Boston Celtics traded Rajon Rondo, he’s been on a tour of mediocrity throughout the NBA.
During Rondo’s travels, he’s played in Dallas, Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans, and last year for the Lakers; none those squads were close to winning a championship. Perhaps Rondo understood that no matter how well he played, it wouldn’t lead to a chip, so he decided to “conserve energy” on defense. Who knows.
This season the Lakers are real championship contenders; thus, Rondo has morphed back into the player he was during his Boston Celtics days. Now Rondo’s, once again, doing all the little things he used to do for Boston, which often go unnoticed but lead to wins.
Rondo’s first among all Lakers guards in rebounding at 9.4 percent. He has a 35.6 assist %, which is second on the Lakers. Plus, after a five-year hiatus, Rondo’s started trying on defense again (he’s seventh on the Lakers in DEFRTG). And as an added bonus, Rondo is second on the Lakers in 3-point shooting at 45 percent off of three attempts per game.
If Rondo had played in more games this season, he’d be at the top of this list, as things stand he’ll have to settle for LA’s fifth-best player thus far.