Los Angeles Lakers: 2018-19 player grades for Rajon Rondo
By Amaar Burton
Weaknesses
Shooting has always been a problem area for Rondo. He simply does not have a reliable jump shot, and he’s a subpar free throw shooter for a guard.
The positive is that Rondo is smart enough to know his limitations, so he usually doesn’t take shots outside of his comfort zone. He doesn’t force things. Sometimes that is a detriment, however, as he can be too cautious and bypass shots he should take.
Rondo attempted a career-high 3.1 shots from 3-point range for the Lakers, making 35.9 percent. That’s well above the career accuracy of 30.9 percent he had coming into the season. Still, an NBA guard in 2019 is expected to do more than that.
He also improved his free throw shooting to 63.9 percent this season. Again, that’s much better than the 54.3 percent he shot at the line last season, but still not a good number for a guard.
Another downside of Rondo’s shooting is that opposing defenses know his game. When he has the ball, they will sag off of him and cover other scoring threats, confident that Rondo won’t take the open jumper.
At this point in his Rondo’s career, he is who he is. He’s not going to become a good shooter over the course of one summer when he hasn’t done it in a previous decade of summers.
The best thing you can say about Rondo’s shooting is that he can get hot sometimes — like when he made four 3s and scored 24 points in a March 31 win over New Orleans — but when he’s not hitting, he won’t shoot you out of the game.
Defense was another area in which Rondo didn’t perform well. To be fair, very few Lakers were good defensively in 2018-19; the team finished 21st in the league in points allowed.
More could’ve been expected of Rondo, though, since he is a four-time NBA All-Defensive Team pick and led the league in steals once.
Like many of L.A.’s key players, injuries plagued Rondo. A broken hand and a sprained finger were the primary culprits for him, which could be a red flag moving forward for someone who earns his paychecks as a slick ball-handler and passer.