His lack of outside shot is going to make him nearly worthless in about 2 years as his brittle body continues to add injuries. I have said it before. If someone told me you will sign Rondo unless you give up your top 5 pick, I might give up the top 5 pick. That's how much I hate the idea of signing him.
Un freaking fathomable to me for an NBA all star (past tense) guard to shoot free throws that poorly. Have Rick Barry (always willing and annoying) teach him how to shoot underhand as a punishment clause in his contract if not shooting over 70% at least. For some "other" team. "Hack a Rondo" ...... How embarrassing. Where's your pride and your balls, man. Get in the gym and make it right.
I've been thinking about the possibility of signing Rondo quite a bit lately, and if there is any scenario in which I would do it. I thought of two: 1. With younger free agents already off the table, I would do a short-term deal for Rondo, like 2 years, $10 mil per year. Ideally put in a team option for year 2, but most likely it would have to be a player option to get him to even consider it. He still probably wouldn't do it though. 2. If the Lakers end up with Towns or Okafor in the draft and land Love in free agency (bigs who need the ball to find them in the right spots) then adding Rondo on the right contract (if there is anything left after Love) makes sense because he will find open looks and make sure our post players are in position to be successful. They could run: PG: Rondo SG: JC SF: Kobe PF: Love C: Towns Obviously Randle would be the backup 4, but considering he hasn't played a full NBA game that's not out of the question. Love's shooting is what makes this lineup work, so if the team were to get someone like Monroe instead the lack of spacing would probably make it all fall to pieces. These are also very specific scenarios. In general I think signing any free agent who is age 29+ to a long-term, max deal is not the right move for the Lakers at this stage, with it being especially true for Rondo. The Lakers absolutely have to sign someone in free agency this summer, and Rondo might be the easiest to get, but that doesn't mean he is the right choice. Given who is available, this would be my free agents to target in order as of right now (this will change depending on what happens in the draft, and I'm factoring in the gamble of going after RFA): 1. Greg Monroe 2. Kawhi Leonard (R) 3. Jimmy Butler(R) 4. Brook Lopez 5. Draymond Green (R) 6. DeAndre Jordan 7. Khris Middleton (R) 8. Tobias Harris (R) 9. Danny Green 10. Marc Gasol 11. Goran Dragic 12. Rajon Rondo? Unfortunately there are a lot of restricted players on the list, and the Lakers are going to have a lot of teams to contend with for a limited number of impact free agents.
But, it's not just about his ability to pass the ball to the bigs. It's equally about floor spacing for a big like Towns or Okafor. Rondo does NOT space the floor. Whoever guards him is going to play off him and dare him to make an outside shot while also clogging the space the big needs to operate. If you have Love too, that helps a bit because he will stand at the 3 point line and he can make that shot. Rondo worked so well in the early Boston days because he had Allen, Pierce and Garnett all deadly as jump shooters. Their big was a slug who never needed the ball or any room to operate. Take away those shooters and Rondo is a different PG.
Oh I agree, that's why I said the only way you can do it is with a shooter like Love and Towns, who can shoot a jumper. If it was say, Monroe and Okafor instead, then it doesn't work. Even with Love having a non-shooting point guard like Rondo is far from ideal, I was just trying to think of scenarios where signing him would make at least a little sense. It isn't easy, and I think the best option is to simply avoid the entire issue and stay away from him altogether. There aren't very many quality free agents available this summer though, and there are a number of teams with money. If it's Rondo or nothing...well I'd probably go with nothing, but LAL mighy take Rondo just because walking away empty-handed three summer's in a row looks really bad.
Want: Aaron Brooks Kevin Love Monte Ellis Rondo Greg Monroe David West Glen Davis Austin Rivers Ed Davis Wayne Ellington Ronnie Price Marc Gasol Jeff Green Jared Dudley Chase Budinger Omer Asik Eric Gordon Tobias Harris Arron Afflalo Lamarcus Aldridge Robin Lopez Wesley Matthews Marco Belinelli
I saw a "Where will FAs land" article yesterday; can't find it offhand, but I'll look for it. They had Rondo and Tobias Harris coming to LA, but they did say that we should check back on Love; if things don't go well, he could wind up here instead. We don't need Rondo, but if the price were reasonable, I'm pretty excited by Harris. I'd love to land either Harris or Love, in fact. Bear with me. JC Kobe Harris or ? Randle Davis or Love -This is a solid starting unit - with length, scoring, and respectable defense. It tells me we should start looking to build specialists and replacements (projects) around those players. That's why I'm in favor of bringing back: Price (defense, leadership) Ellington (shooter, team player) Brown (seems like he can score) Kelly (stretch 4) Black (he's a brute) -This is not a bad second unit, but it can be better. Not terribly creative moves we can easily make: Buycks or a 2nd round PG Blue (jack-of-all-trades) Bring back Young or Wes Boozer Sacre -If Boozer is down with a bench role, I'm happy to have him back. More creative moves/draft picks: Draft a ridiculous shooter: Corey Hawkins/Joseph Young/Johnny Dee and see what they can do (or some of these guys might not even be drafted) Draft your wing defender type. There are at least two names floating around here RHJ, Hunter, and Anderson are in the mix. Draft Christian Wood - shot blocker, gives LA a little something different than the other PFs on the roster. Draft Robert Upshaw - among players coming off the board late, he has the greatest potential to be a legi starter in the NBA. Legit size, legit shotblocking, and scores well in the paint. Free Agency Options Re-sign Jeremy Lin. Sign Khris Middleton. Sign Luol Deng. Throw $ at Brook Lopez? Or less $ at Tyson Chandler. Here's one possibility: JC/Lin/Price Kobe/Ellington/RUSSELL Middleton/Wes/WING DRAFT Randle/Black/Kelly Love/Davis/Upshaw - at each position we'd have the starter JC, Kobe, Middleton, Randle, and Love. We'd also have a competent backup: Lin, Ellington, Wes, Black, and Davis. We'd also have a prospect: JC, Russell, Wing Draft, Randle, and Upshaw. Just sayin'.
I'm in with Love at center. Let"s get talented players for our starting five. Everyone is a threat, no more stiffs who can't play.
I was wondering whether this would be possible. With Love at 20.1M (cap at 67m), I don't think we could swing it. We could bring back Davis at around $5M to start. That would leave about $1.8M in cap space. No Lin or Middleton. If we drop Price, we could bring back Lin at up to $3.2M, but then no Middleton. We'd have to do without either a new SF, Love, or Davis probably. If we do without Love, we can sign SF and Davis. If we get Love, we can't have both Davis and a solid (pricey) SF. Sad.
I would like to see Harris on the Lakers as well, but the current rumors suggest that the Knicks are going after him. Same with Greg Monroe, who would be a great option if Love isn't available. There is a very limited amount of talent out there, and we are going to have to compete with NY for them...plus the best wing players (Kawhi, Butler, Harris, Middleton) are all restricted. Not saying we can't get them, but we are going to have to prove why it's better signing with us than with Phil.
unpossibl1 said: ↑ I would like to see Harris on the Lakers as well, but the current rumors suggest that the Knicks are going after him. Same with Greg Monroe, who would be a great option if Love isn't available. There is a very limited amount of talent out there, and we are going to have to compete with NY for them...plus the best wing players (Kawhi, Butler, Harris, Middleton) are all restricted. Not saying we can't get them, but we are going to have to prove why it's better signing with us than with Phil. Or......how about in the interview Mitch finds an inoffensive way to say, "and besides you don't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, and the Triangle is a b**** to learn" ?
I had a thought regarding the increasing salary cap and backloaded contracts. If the cap were really going to raise to 100+ million by 2017-2018, would it possible to sign, for example, Middleton for 10/10/20/20 million over 4 years? Like the JLin scenario?
there's a maximum percentage on raises, or you have to have the space in your cap for the average (I think). so, no, no 10/10/20 types. you can frontload things, though, I believe. like what okc did with nick collision a few years back: use this year's cap space to overpay role players right now and pay them peanuts later. like a signing bonus.
Yeah. We could offer Middleton the max for his first year and then have his contract slowly wind down. That might be especially helpful when you consider that Middleton/Harris/Carroll might be the only new FA we sign when it's all said and done. Where did the Tobias Harris rumor come from? Is there anything to that or is it complete conjecture? This seems to say otherwise. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...uture-brian-schmitz-0417-20150416-column.html I'd rather have Middleton though. Harris scares me a bit because that Magic team is loaded with talent yet they still fought it out with us for a bottom 4 slot. Something over there is causing that team not to work and I don't think it was all Vaughn.
Yeah. They probably don't even want to mention the Lakers in any article for fear of the inevitable happening again.
Keep in mind that nearly every team with highly sought-after restricted free agents is going to swear they will match any offer and will take the full 3 days to do it. That's just SOP to try to scare away other teams, doesn't mean they actually will match.
