NBA free agency: 30 greatest free agent signings in NBA history

Greatest free agency signings in NBA history: 23. Rajon Rondo- New Orleans Pelicans, 2017

Before Elfrid Payton and Lonzo Ball became the New Orleans Pelicans’ non-shooting point guards of choice, the team brought in Rajon Rondo because this franchise apparently loves spending money on players who defenses know to sag off of and slide under every screen defensively.

New Orleans took a one-year flyer on Rondo in 2017, figuring his playmaking and defense would pair well with their all-world frontcourt of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins and emerging two-way star Jrue Holiday.

For the most part, it worked. Rondo returned to his usual dime-dropping ways, averaging 8.2 assists to go with his 8.3 points on improved efficiency, and his value as a passer showed up in some of the analytics, as his .101 WS/48 was the highest since his last All-Star season in Boston.

Additionally, Rondo once again ginned up the talking head discussion of “Playoff Rondo”, as his passing and defense helped the Pelicans score an upset sweep over the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.

These days, adding Rondo to your team can be a bit of a gamble. His lack of shooting and aversion to the free throw line distills his amazing passing ability in the sense that he doesn’t draw extra attention from defenses, so adding him always comes with the risk of running offenses without much spacing.

That said, Rondo is considered to be one of the smartest players in the game by his peers, so his insight can be a boon in ways that won’t show up in some numbers, to use an old sportswriter’s cliche. Surely, that made his time with the Pelicans more beneficial than detrimental.