New York Knicks: Could Rajon Rondo Be A Fit?

A glaring weakness for the New York Knicks has been the point guard position. Fortunately for them, there are a few on the market this summer that could help fill that void, but would Rajon Rondo be the best fit?

As the 2015-16 regular season came to an end and the New York Knicks finished with a record of 32-50 and missing the postseason for the third straight year, it was clear that many improvements were needed.

Among the little adjustments that must be made to truly make this team playoff-worthy, the two main focuses heading into this summer were choosing a head coach and addressing the point guard position.

They checked one of those off the list when they announced the hiring of new head coach Jeff Hornacek.

Although the triangle offense will still be a part of the Knicks’ system, Hornacek’s system will add more tempo, pick-and-rolls, and three-point shooting to make it more dynamic as he did during his tenure with the Phoenix Suns.

With that being said, a point guard is needed to run any system that is implemented, but the triangle has been known to hold back the playmaking of ball-dominant floor generals.

The hope is that if the Knicks are able to sign a worthy point guard, Hornacek’s adjustments will favor the offense and slowly drift away from the strict sets in the triangle. One point guard who comes to mind immediately when thinking about the what the Knicks need is Rajon Rondo.

Caution flags raise for fans whenever Rondo’s name is being mentioned as a possible addition to their respective team’s roster because of his past.

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He is known for being extremely arrogant and struggles to keep calm on the floor, but one thing that is also mentioned when Rondo’s name is brought up is his genius of a basketball mind.

Ever since his days of winning the championship with the Celtics, his ability to get his teammates involved has been spectacular.

Playing in the Big Apple comes with tons of daily criticism and pressure and it isn’t breaking news that the Knicks haven’t exactly been a well-run organization for some time now, but Rondo doesn’t allow the outside noise to effect his play on the court.

He recently finished a one-year deal with the Sacramento Kings (arguably the biggest circus of an organization in the league) and did so by leading the league in assists by averaging 11.7 per game.

His 11.9 points per game average is tied for second-highest in his 10-year career and his 36.5 three point percentage is a personal best.

At 30 years old, Rondo still has shown that he has plenty to offer an NBA team that needs a point guard. Much talk in New York has revolved around going after Mike Conley, who will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

While Conley would be the best-case scenario in terms of fitting in the offense for the Knicks, their name hasn’t come up as a possible destination for him. At this point in his career, Conley will likely elect to re-sign with Memphis or ink a deal with a team who is an established contender.

Rondo would be a huge upgrade to their current point guard situation. Hornacek sounded off on “The Hahn and Humpty Show” on ESPN 98.7 FM yesterday:

"“The point guards we have, Jerian Grant is just a young player who is learning his way. He’s going to get better and better as the years go on with the experience. And Jose Calderon is on the later side of it. So if we can find a point guard who, that’s the 27, 28-year-old guy who has the experience and still has a lot of juice left, sure that would make us better. And the more shooters you can get, the better also.”"

Rondo doesn’t exactly fit the “shooters” remark, but it seemed as if Hornacek was insinuating that they would sign shooters at other positions this summer to help their cause.

New York hasn’t had a competent point guard since the 2012-13 season when Jason Kidd led the offense to a 111.1 rating (third in the NBA) and guided them to a 54-28 record.

Acquiring Rondo alone wouldn’t lift this team to immediate playoff contention, but if the Knicks signed one or two solid rotation players along with him, it would put them in the conversation.

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Having a pass-first point guard with the intelligence that Rondo has paired up with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis could be much more dangerous than most are assuming.

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