:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64681161/1135092298.jpg.0.jpg)
The Los Angeles Lakers are reuniting the 2017-18 New Orleans Pelicans, as Rajon Rondo will re-join his former teammates Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins on the roster.
Kendrick Perkins was first on the news, quickly followed by a couple of NBA insiders:
Perk Bomb! Rondo going back to the Lakers!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) July 6, 2019
Free agent Rajon Rondo is signing a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, league sources tell @ramonashelburne and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
Can confirm that Rajon Rondo is signing a two-year deal with the Lakers. It's for the minimum.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) July 6, 2019
Rondo joins newly-signed Quinn Cook as the team’s two point guards right now, with Alex Caruso also hopefully re-signing at some point soon, too.
Most people who have paid attention to the Lakers over the last, oh, I dunno, five years probably saw this move coming, as they’ve been wooing Rondo for about as long as he’s been past his prime. He’s also very close to both Davis, Cousins and LeBron James, which was likely the deciding factor here.
The problem is that last season, Rondo was arguably the league’s most negatively impactful player, given the size of the role he was tasked with. Now, part of that is unfair seeing as the team was hoping Lonzo Ball would be healthier for more than about half the season, but Rondo was utterly incapable of filling in as the team’s starting point guard when he was asked to.
What will be interesting to see here, therefore, is how head coach Jason Kidd/LeBron James Frank Vogel utilizes Rondo. Frankly, Alex Caruso is likely the best fit at starting point guard, but he isn’t even signed yet and doesn’t boast the resumé that Rondo supporters hold up to explain why he keeps getting chances.
if Rondo is the team’s backup point guard who steps in to run the offense with James on the bench, then this signing makes sense (though the contract being for two years certainly isn’t at all appealing). But if the team still thinks he’s the point guard of a half decade ago, then we have problems.
Rondo averaged 9.2 points and 8 assist per game last year and the Lakers were -8.2 points worse per 100 possessions while he was on the court.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. Here is a list of every free agent credibly connected to the Lakers so far.