Los Angeles Lakers: 3 ways losing Rajon Rondo would hurt the Lakers

Production

Rajon Rondo did not make much of an impact scoring-wise in regular season, averaging just 7.1 points and 5 assists, also missing time on suspension and injuries. But it is when playoffs came around that it was his time to shine. And boy if he did.

In the postseason he averaged 8.9 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Most importantly, he shot 40% from three.

And he put together these numbers with several eight-plus-assist games and multiple double-figure-scoring nights (19 points in the closing Game 5 of the NBA Finals).

Rajon really sustained the Lakers’ bench unit and overall team night in and night out when LeBron James and/or Anthony Davis were not playing, creating scoring opportunities for his teammates and himself, thus giving the Lakers an edge when it came to bench vs bench during games.

Not just that. His presence in the lineup also allowed LeBron to play off the ball and provide the scoring punch the team needed at times.

His production could go down again in the coming regular season, but the Lakers organization knows it can count on Playoff Rondo to show up when playoff time comes. Losing him would mean probably losing their most productive and impactful playoff player behind LeBron and AD.

Replacing him scoring-wise is something achievable, but replacing the way he steps up in big moments is going to be really hard.