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The Los Angeles Lakers have spoken with Rajon Rondo on the opening night of free agency, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, a surprising move given that the Lakers don’t own their first round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft and presumably do not want to tank.
It’s possible the Lakers were calling Rondo as a prank call, but the team also would likely have better usage for their time on the first night of free agency so this is likely at least somewhat legitimate.
Rondo had a solid showing for the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs before getting hurt, but he also has not been a good NBA player for the majority of the last few years while assist-gunning with the Bulls and Sacramento Kings.
The Lakers have need for a back-up point guard and it’s hard to sign a bad one-year contract, but they would seem to have better options than an often-surly former Boston Celtic who has mainly continued to get NBA deals off of name recognition.
All stats per NBA.com. and Basketball-Reference.com. Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.