With Rajon Rondo running point and the trio of DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, the New Orleans Pelicans will be counting on their floor general to accomplish these goals in 2017-18.
During the offseason, the New Orleans Pelicans acquired Rajon Rondo, who was released by the Chicago Bulls. This was an excellent pickup by the Pelicans, because Rondo is no stranger to playoff action and even has a 2008 championship under his belt from his time with the Boston Celtics.
While on the Bulls, coach Fred Hoiberg placed Rondo on the DNP-CD list (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision) quite a few times. Sometimes Hoiberg ran with Michael Carter-Williams, as the starting point guard, with Jerian Grant as his backup.
When Hoiberg sat Rondo for the second half, in a loss to the Indiana Pacers, Rondo said he was “not surprised” by Hoiberg’s decision to bench him in favor of Michael Carter-Williams. According to ESPN, Rondo talked to Hoiberg about being benched:
"“[Hoiberg] told me that I’ve been looking slow the last five games,” Rondo said. “He asks me all the time, ‘Am I healthy?’ I responded, saying that I think this is the best I’ve ever felt this part of the season, so we’ll see how it goes.”"
In response to being kept out of the rotation last season, Rondo said, that he would “absolutely” seek a trade if his role doesn’t develop.
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Then a funny thing happened on the way to TD Garden. Rondo led the eighth-seeded Bulls against the top-seeded team in the East, and beat the Celtics 2-0 in Boston. If not for Rondo’s injuries, the Bulls most likely would have won that playoff series.
During the Bulls’ exit interviews, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times:
"“A Bulls source indicated that the message coming out of the meetings with both Butler and Wade was the “Three Alphas’’ storyline has played out. “While Butler and Wade personally have no problem with Rajon Rondo, they would like a proven outside threat at point guard to open up the floor.”"
Sidenote: Butler was traded during the draft, and after the trade Dwyane Wade was looking for a buy-out.
Despite his valiant exploits against the Celtics, the Bulls still ended up waiving Rondo. DeMarcus Cousins who was unceremoniously traded to the Pelicans on his day off, pushed for New Orleans to acquire his fellow Kentucky Wildcat. The Pelicans picked up the phone.
New Orleans got a very good deal, because they only paid $3.3 million to add him.
In the Big Easy, where winning hasn’t come easy for the Pels, not only will Rondo be the starting point guard, but Jrue Holiday will move over to the shooting guard position. There is a very good chance with Cousins, Anthony Davis, Holiday and now Rondo running point, that the Pelicans will not miss the playoffs again.
Nonetheless, Rondo still must achieve five goals in order to fit in seamlessly with his new team, and do the job he was hired to do.