Los Angeles Lakers Should Pass On Rajon Rondo

The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into an off-season in which they seem intent on spending their cap space on impact players. This isn’t a new development by any means — the team made an effort to sign both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony last season, and went all-in on retaining Dwight Howard the off-season prior.

What is new is the motivation.

After the 2015-16 season, the NBA’s salary cap is projected to spike by more than $20 million due to an influx of new BRI (basketball related income) for the league in the form of a new television rights deal.

A cap increase of that magnitude is going to give a ton of teams spending power they may not have had prior, and basically makes everyone a buyer for the talented free agent class of 2016-17. Simply put, it erases any major advantage the Los Angeles Lakers would acquire by continuing to hoard cap space.

In theory, the best idea would be for the Lakers to acquire at least one foundational piece via free agency this off-season, locking them into a max contract under the lower 2015-16 cap figure. As the salary cap increases dramatically over the next few years, the team will still have the ability to add significant talent, making any contracts signed this off-season key.

One free agent that has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers is Dallas Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo. The former Boston Celtic was traded in the early stages of the 2014-15 season, and was given his walking papers after the second game of Dallas’ first-round series against Houston after a disastrous season with his new club.

It is unclear how surprising this was to Rondo, who apparently was planning on signing with the Los Angeles Lakers all along.

If you disregard context, mainly his horrendous season on and off the court with the Mavericks, this may seem like an encouraging development. No matter what one thinks of Rajon Rondo, he’s a “brand” free agent. He is clearly interested in the Los Angeles Lakers, and the team maintains interest in him “at the right price.”

The question at this point is: Should the Los Angeles Lakers want Rajon Rondo at any price?

Disaster in Dallas: The Fall of Rajon Rondo

Somewhere out there, some people may still consider Rajon Rondo to be one of the best pure point guards in the league.

It’s unlikely that Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is one of those people.

The above shouting match landed Rondo a one-game suspension. This outburst would have been surprising, except for the fact that it was absolutely the opposite.

That’s because Rajon Rondo is one of the most notoriously difficult players to coach, and bballbreakdown.com recalled a few different situations in which he has clashed with coaches in his past two stops (Kentucky Wildcats, Boston Celtics).

While Carlisle is regarded as one of the top coaches in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers employ a head man in Byron Scott that is viewed on the other end of the spectrum. It’s unknown how Rondo would mesh with Scott, but pairing the hot-headed point guard with a head coach who is extremely vocal with his criticism doesn’t seem like a great idea.

Butting heads with a coach is never an advisable move for a player, but it can often be tolerated if the player is producing. For Rajon Rondo, that was simply not the case in Dallas this year.

In 46 regular season games with the Mavericks, Rondo averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.9 turnovers per game. He shot 44.8 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from three-point range, and 45.2 percent from the free-throw line.

On the surface, the numbers aren’t awful enough to scare anyone away. His free-throw percentage is DeAndre-Jordan-level putrid for a point guard, but you can talk yourself into making his other stats passable. Once you dig a bit dig a bit deeper, however, it’s easy to get concerned.

For starters, his free-throw rate (free-throw attempts per field goal attempt) was an abysmal 9.4 percent (26.4 percent for his career). While it makes sense given his ineptitude from the stripe, it proves that he doesn’t attack with the intent to score, making him even less of an offensive threat than his already meager scoring numbers suggest.

As a frame of reference consider Elfrid Payton; another point guard who has a problem with shooting. He registered a 30.2 percent free-throw rate this year, despite shooting 55 percent from the line. Play style has a big role in this statistic, and it’s clear that Rondo’s is passive and vacant offensively.

Rondo’s lack of scoring ability drastically hurt the Mavericks offense. They went from being 1st in the league in offensive rating (113.6) to being 13th (104.1) in the league after the trade. With Rajon Rondo off the court Dallas was 8.8 points better in offensive rating over the course of the regular season, and that number ballooned to 16.4 points better in the playoffs.

While there is little debate that Rondo did not fit in in Dallas, it’s worth wondering where he can fit in with his skill set.

The Los Angeles Lakers do not need another ball-dominant player with Kobe Bryant on the roster. Rondo’s passing would be a welcome addition, but not if he is an absolute stiff off-the-ball.

This Lakers team needs someone who can score, and players who are willing to attack the basket. Rajon Rondo did neither for the Mavericks, and ultimately failed to adapt to the style of play they wanted from him.

Lakers Banking On A Bounce Back?

Assuming the Los Angeles Lakers are actually targeting Rajon Rondo, they probably are looking for a bounce back into his All-Star form.

But so is everyone else.

After tearing his ACL in 2013, Rajon Rondo has not been the same player. His points and assists have dropped in each season since the injury, and it is looking more and more like he’s on the decline at age 29.

While his stats looked a bit better with the Celtics early this season (8.3 points, 10.8 assists, 7.5 rebounds per game), his team got noticeably better after shipping him out of town. In fact, Rajon Rondo hasn’t had a positive plus/minus since the 2011-12 season.

A big problem for the Los Angeles Lakers is investing in a player who is on the wrong side of their prime who hasn’t been the same since a significant injury. They roster one player like that already — The Black Mamba himself — and it’s worked out to the tune of three season ending injuries in a row.

The prospect of giving a long-term contract to this guy should scare the hell out of the Los Angeles Lakers fan base. He is certainly a risk, and it’s unclear whether the potential reward even exists anymore.

Los Angeles Lakers Should Pass On Rajon Rondo

If you have read this far into the piece, you probably weren’t shocked that I came to this conclusion.

With a checkered past with coaches, declining production, and a noticeable after-injury shift in his play, it’s not a risk that the Los Angeles Lakers should be comfortable taking.

For the past few seasons Rajon Rondo has not been a dynamic offensive player, and he showcased his ability to actually bring down an elite NBA offense during his short-lived Dallas stint. Adding a player who fits into a ball-dominant, “designated passer” role is not conducive to playing in today’s NBA.

Further complicating things are the free agent alternatives (Goran Dragic), promising in-house options (Jordan Clarkson), and tempting draft choices (Emmanuel Mudiay). Any of these other routes bring less drama and more offensive upside along with their contracts. Rajon Rondo promises at least one coaching clash, and a very limited offensive game.

It seems that Jim Buss is slowly backing the Los Angeles Lakers away from Rajon Rondo.

The few people that have not already may want to follow suit.

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