Chicago Bulls: Rajon Rondo Will Be An All-Star

Rajon Rondo had an underrated bounce-back season with the Sacramento Kings, and he looks set to reign supreme once again with the Chicago Bulls.

Few teams this offseason made more puzzling moves than the Chicago Bulls. They finally shed themselves of Derrick Rose and let Joakim Noah walk, with the prevailing thought they would try and surround All-Star Jimmy Butler with emerging talent.

Instead, they opted to sign two veterans, All-Star Dwyane Wade and former All-Star Rajon Rondo. If these moves had been made five years ago, the Bulls would be instant contenders.

But times have changed. Five years feels like an awfully long time ago as Rose was enjoying league MVP status at that point as well.

These moves appear to have been made to keep the Bulls above water while their young players improve.

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They will also look to future free agency classes to see if they can make a bigger splash there. Bringing Wade back to his hometown team adds a feel-good factor to the summer too.

Now, it’s been well documented how the playing styles of Butler, Wade and Rondo may struggle to come together to form a cohesive unit. But there is no denying that individually, Rondo is the biggest question mark of the three.

In actuality though, Rondo may be about the only consistent contributor this organization will have on a nightly basis throughout the course of the season. You’ll likely disagree, but I’ve kind of been right about this guy before.

This is because, and say this quietly if you want to, Rajon Rondo was actually pretty good last season. The problem is, you likely didn’t notice/care, because his play was overshadowed by DeMarcus Cousins, as well as the runaway train wreck that is the Sacramento Kings organization.

He posted some impressive numbers (which we’ll return to) and while he still hit the news for the wrong reasons on a couple of occasions, his on the court play did not suffer as a result.

Yes the Kings were still bad on most nights. It’s also true that if Rondo was still the player he once was, he could have dragged this team to a couple of more wins throughout the year.

But his individual play was at a level not seen since before he tore his ACL while a member of the Boston Celtics.

He was in danger of slipping out of the league (or at least of no longer being a starting point guard in the NBA) and he responded accordingly.

Given how his tenure in Dallas with the Mavericks fell apart, many thought he might use his time with the Kings to continue coasting.

After all, he was joining a team that had little chance of making the playoffs. He wouldn’t have been the first player to pick up one final paycheck and call it a career. Indeed that was where it looked like he was headed.

Instead he bounced back with some of his best basketball in years, showing prolonged glimpses of the flashy passes and high basketball IQ that made him a cult hero.

In 72 games (all of which he started) Rondo averaged 11.9 points, six rebounds and a whopping 11.7 assists per game. If that last number looks pretty, that’s because it is. That number led the league (Russell Westbrook was second with 10.4 per contest).

It also tied a career high from back in 2011-12, when Rondo was an All-Star. That will be a recurring theme as we look closer at his subtlety impressive stats from his time in Sacramento.

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The points averaged last season, while not quite a complete return to form, showed improvement. It was the highest scoring average for Rondo since 2012-13 (13.7), the last year he was an All-Star.

Rondo has always been a long and crafty floor general, but the six rebounds per game were actually a career high. Further proof that his renewed commitment to the game paid dividends for his former employers.

Beyond the basic numbers however, and the positive vibes continue. His effective field goal percentage of 49.4 percent was the highest mark since 2012-13 (the year of his fourth and, at this point, final All-Star appearance).

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Rondo will never be known for his three-point shooting, but in an era dominated by long-range efforts, he attempted to adapt.

Not only was the 36.5 percent from long range a career high, it was also the highest mark among both himself, Wade (15.9 percent) and Butler (31.2 percent) last season.

Rajon Rondo being the best three-point shooter in his own “Big Three” in Chicago? A sentence nobody thought they’d see.

His Player Efficiency Rating (league average 15) of 16.9 was his highest since 2012-13 (18.1). Did I mention already he was an All-Star that year?

So not only was Rondo getting his on the court with the Kings, he was a positive influence on a team that desperately needed it. They still do, and you have to wonder if they’ll regret not trying to keep a former top-five player at his position.

Now however he finds himself with the Chicago Bulls, with a new set of challenges. Many have written off the moves made to bring Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade together with Jimmy Butler.

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There are many reasons why the experiment will fail, and even more reasons to tune in on a nightly basis to watch them play. But Rondo will not be one of them. He will shine. He will be an All-Star once more.