Rajon Rondo supposedly will join the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs.
Rajon Rondo is soon coming back to the Los Angeles Lakers. As Frank Vogel declared:
Vogel said Rajon Rondo practiced today, and “looked good … we’re hopeful to have him in this series."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) August 31, 2020
Good news is coming for the Los Angeles Lakers as they prepare to face the winner of Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder. A tough second round either way, Rajon Rondo will be a welcomed improvement for the team.
The 6’1″ point guard did not have a great regular season, as he averaged just 7.1 points and 5 assists, but playoffs are a whole other story. Historically, Rondo has been totally different in that time of the year. He is one of those players capable to get to another level and raise their performance in the playoffs. That is why he earned the nickname Playoff Rondo.
A player capable of almost averaging a triple-double through a whole postseason in a time (2009) when triple-doubles were not so common and numbers were not inflated by 3-point shooting and superfast offenses.
Rajon turned mediocre seasons in Chicago and New Orleans in great shows during the playoffs. The eighth-seed Chicago Bulls took a 2-0 lead over the first-seed Boston Celtics in 2018 behind his spectacular performances, stopped only by a broken thumb, which made him miss the rest of the series. In 2012 and 2018, playing with the Boston Celtics and New Orleans Pelicans, he led the playoffs in assists.
Each time his career looked over, the former Wildcat rose to prove his greatness in the most significant moment of the season.
With the season on the verge to resume, the veteran showed up in phenomenal shape in Orlando, as ready to shift his mode for playoffs.
Unfortunately, a broken thumb forced him to postpone his return and leave the bubble for surgery and rehab. However, recovered from the injury, and freed from quarantine, he struggled with back spasms and could not join his teammates in the first round.
Now, everything seems to point to Rondo finally ready to step on the floor for the 2020 NBA Playoffs. He is not probably going to be in the same condition he got into July, but it does not matter.
For a seasoned veteran, playoffs are a state of mind. Rajon knows the different way to approach the game at this point of the season, and study his opponent through a seven-game series.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ bench, struggling to score on many occasions without LeBron James and Anthony Davis, should benefit greatly from Rondo’s return, able to create for his teammates, but often more prone to score in the playoffs.
The hope is that with his presence Playoff Rondo will be a driving force to help the Lakers go deep in this postseason. We shall see.