Why so much Rondo hate? I can't stand him as a C bag but i would love to see him in a Lakers uni. A walking triple double that plays "pitbull like" D. Sign me up. Im tired of other teams PG's abusing us year after year.
Definitely. I'd love Rondo on the Lakers. Rick Fox and Brian Shaw were C Bags at one point too. Give me Rondo as long as there's no lingering health concerns.
Well, I've said this many times before. It has nothing to do with the team as much as it does with his ability to play. I don't like CP3, but I'd love to have him on this team. Rondo's defensive ability is highly overrated by many fans and was only "great" during the initial C Bags run. Afterward, he gambled way too much and started relying on KG to cover for his mistakes. His defense has only gotten worse and worse over the past few years and became very average up to his injury. It's one of the main reasons why the C Bags didn't miss a beat when Rondo tore his ACL. Avery Bradley (actually a good defender) took that starting spot and the C Bags defense started looking like their old, extremely gritty self. In fact, the C Bags have never missed a beat when Rondo left the lineup due to whatever reason (suspsensions, minor injuries, etc.). While he's a great passer, he also hurts the offense with his complete inability to shoot. It's bad for your offense when players can literally not guard you beyond a certain point. They can just roam around without worrying about what Rondo is doing. He's pretty much a liability off the ball. If you're going to pay the PG max money, he has to have the ability to score for your team to do well. Unfortunately, with Rondo, you have to have a very specific set of players around him for the team to do well. Great PGs can make your team into a top offensive team. Think CP3 who has always lead a great offensive team. Even good PGs can do that. Think of Kyle Lowry, who has always lead an average to above average offensive team. Rondo has not done that. His teams have been either average, below average, or just downright awful. Finally, he's a locker room cancer. He's gotten into arguments and fights with pretty much everyone on his team, including the coach. The C Bags have been trying to trade him for years, but nobody is biting. Edit: Oh yea, he's also the Dwight Howard of PGs when it comes to free throws.
My only concern with Rondo is 1. his health 2. his inability to hit a jumper If we're counting on this guy to be the future star, he's got to be able to close out games. I don't care how many assists he averages, if you're teammates are Wesley Johnson and Carlos Boozer, those won't be assists anymore. (Granted, yes they will most likely be gone next summer.)
To the point that Rondo is a locker room cancer, I don't think this should be understated. Consider the fact that he butted heads with Doc Rivers to the point that Doc wanted him traded. In fact, I think Doc may have left for the Clippers partly because he knew Rondo was the future of the C-bags franchise and he had had enough. For what it's worth, I consider Doc Rivers to be a class act and the one thing I DIDN'T hate about that C Bags team. If you have a problem with Doc Rivers, my guess is the problem is you.
He's a great player and he comes with that fire to win similar to Kobe. However, you need to surround Rondo with the right type of players. Your SG/SF need to be able to hit the three at a high rate and your PF needs to be a consistent mid-range shooter. That's what they had with the C Bags in Allen, Pierce, and KG and that lineup gave Rondo the space he needed to work his way into the paint.
Kobe respects him and he should have nice pieces around him including newly motivated former fellow Kentucky star. Randle will need a PG that can collapse a defense and distribute like Rondo. Your points are all good though. I just think he should be a serious option for us ASAP. Anthony likes him and the Knicks will make a run for him too.
Honestly the Lakers would be absolutely insane to thumb their nose at Rondo. Are you kidding me? The guy consistently is among the league leaders in not just assists, but triple doubles. He's only 28 years old. He's a former Champion, he's played with strong personalities, and he's a guy that's extremely marketable. Is he surly player on the floor? Of course. So is Kobe. Why does that matter? As long as he's here to win us some games, that's absolutely the only thing I care about. This guy has made any random big men in Boston right relevant including Kelly Olynyk. Kelly Olynyk is not really any better or worse than Ryan Kelly, but he's putting up completely respectable numbers. I take Rondo in less than a heartbeat and I never look back again. His max is 19.8 million. That'd eat most of our cap space, but I still think it's worth it. If our cap space is roughly 30 million and we give 19.8 to Rondo that leaves 10.2 million to find more help. Assuming we don't get our top 5 pick back, that leaves few options. If we give all that 10 million to a wing like Mathews, then we're left with probably only ONE of: Hill, Davis, and Lin. Who do you pick? Rondo/??? Bryant/??? Mathews/Young Randle/Kelly ???/??? At least one of those spots goes to Houston's first rounder. I probably pick Hill or Davis and roll the dice on another guard. Or probably more likely, I draft a SF then I re-sign Lin and one of Davis/Hill. That way we have a rock solid PG rotation and a competent big man too. edit- I just realized I thought we had the MLE. If we're under the cap we don't get the MLE.
I respect your guys' thoughts. With that being said, I still think yall are simply desperate for another "star" with all due respect. 20 mill to Rondo, give me a break. Im open to Rondo if its a fair contract for both sides, especially given Rondo's offensive limitations and his injury past. 4 year-64 mill which is 16 mill a year. 10 mill to Matthews and with the rest of the 4 mill we re-sign Davis, rookie class which is hopefully top 5 lottery pack and Houstons 1st(also hopefully be able to land another 2nd rounder like last year) to continue mixing in youth. Hill and Lin walk if theyre not traded at/before deadline for assets which I hope ends up happening when we realize were not making the playoffs,again to continue to bring in cheap young talent. Those rookie slots have the POTENTIAL to be studs,again on rookie contracts too. Rondo/Rookie? Kobe/Clarkson Matthews/Young Randle/Kelly Davis/Rookie(That over takes C roll from Davis in the future)?
I'd like Rondo but not at max level. Big contract? Sure. But not max. Max goes to superstars or great bigs, not PG's for me.
Injury is a very valid concern. If he stays healthy this year I'm all in on the guy. If he misses significant time due to injury I'm out. Tired of seeing our best talent go down.
His sub par shooting is also a valid concern. You seriously can't be that limited with your jumper as a max player and perimeter player. Simply can't. I don't care how good of a passer you are or rebounder, people can just sag off you (a la 2010 Finals) and would live on you taking the jumper.
