Rajon Rondo will be the starting point guard for the Chicago Bulls next season. Fans who were hoping for a productive basketball player, who can help a young team with an established NBA star, got the opposite.
At this point in his career, Rajon Rondo is a fake stat-producing NBA name that’s only concerned about himself.
If you read no further, please simply look at the title of this April 2015 ESPN the Magazine article: Rajon Rondo – Good At Math, Bad At People.
At his peak, he earned four straight All-Star appearances. For four straight seasons, he was an All-Defensive Team player. He led the league in assists in 2012, 2013 and 2016 (last season should be expunged from the record).
Numbers never paint the full picture of a player’s value. Rondo’s numbers have completely lied about who he is for years.
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During the Boston Celtics’ Big Three era, Rondo was perceived as a floor general who made the three future first-ballot Hall of Famers work together. He was never that. During his run of four straight All-Star seasons, the Celtics ranked 15th, 18th, 27th and 24th in offensive efficiency.
Even if his numbers weren’t completely artificial in losing campaigns during the end of his run in Boston, all the Bulls front office needed to look at were his last two seasons to understand that Rondo has almost no place on any NBA team.
After the Big Three left, Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge repeatedly shopped the point guard. Many thought he missed his chance to get real value for Rondo after he tore his ACL in 2013.
Ainge and the Celtics got their wish when the Dallas Mavericks made a huge gamble and traded for him in December of 2014.
The Mavericks started off the 2014-15 season on a historically great offensive pace. Rondo’s arrival derailed their offense, their chemistry and their season.
It ended with his benching in the playoffs after he simply stopped trying. His Mavericks teammates wanted nothing to do with him and were completely okay with awarding him no shares of their playoff earnings. He bogged down the Mavericks’ offense. He could not shoot from anywhere on the court, including the free-throw line. Rondo famously clashed with Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle, who is very seasoned and almost universally respected.
Rondo had nowhere to turn after Dallas cut ties with him.
Then, the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA signed him to a one-year deal (even they hedge their bet).
He led the league in assists last year with the Sacramento Kings and he put up some solid numbers overall.
But, it was all a mirage.
The Kings were not good. They were also more efficient on offense when the man who led the league in assists was on the bench. Rondo does not work within the flow of an offense. He makes passes only when he thinks it will lead to filling up his stat sheet.
He is so inept as a shooter – despite decent numbers last season – that teams go under ever screen. Since his ACL tear, he hasn’t been able to get to the rim as easily as he used to. And, his atrocious free-throw shooting makes him avoid even attempting to drive.
The Kings, who have had four head coaches in four years, and whose owner wants them to play cheering cherry-picking middle school basketball, barely even considered bringing Rondo back.
Yet the 30-year-old point guard, who admitted to not playing defense in “years”, finds himself in Chicago.
The Smoking Cuban
If the Bulls were going to take a chance on a once elite point guard revitalizing his career next season, they didn’t need to sign a free agent. Derrick Rose, the hometown hero and the youngest MVP in NBA history, was already on the books. At least he was once all, or even more, than his outstanding numbers suggested.
But, he openly talked about exploring free agency next summer and there was little trade value for him, making the Bulls’ haul for the beloved and maligned point guard a small consolation.
Rose may have said all the wrong things, but his actions spoke to who he really was. The Bulls’ newest point guard says and does all of the wrong things and his actions speak even louder.
Rondo is a long-armed guard who rarely tries to work within a team concept on defense. He opts to play the passing lanes to grab steals. His defense has been declining for years. He grabs offensive rebounds at a high rate and makes some flashy plays that will have fans on their feet, but he is the last player that should be suiting up for the Bulls next season.
He barely respected Doc Rivers, George Karl or Carlisle. All three coaches are all on their way to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce outwardly fought with him. He gave up Dirk Nowitzki in the playoffs.
He will have zero interest in respecting this very young Bulls team, much less their second-year head coach. The offseason, until Rondo was signed, pointed to Butler taking over the reigns as the star. The front office spoke of getting younger and more athletic.
Instead the Bulls signed a guard who one scout told ESPN in 2014, “was awful… I think he’s a selfish player…”
Rondo did two things very well last season: pad assists stats and pound the basketball. He will not help Fred Hoiberg’s pace-and-space offense. He does not swing the ball, he doesn’t make the right or quick basketball play, he cannot shoot, especially from deep, and he doesn’t score in the paint.
Rondo plays for himself.
Bulls fans should get ready for a year-round circus trip next season.
For an organization who has been rightfully criticized in recent years, one thing the Bulls have done well is bringing in high-character guys. Rondo stops this run abruptly.
Attacking someone’s character is not something that should be done on a whim. He may very well be pleasant away from basketball, but he has been nothing but awful within the context of his profession for years. The homophonic slur he directed last season at a referee is a prime example. His complete insincere apology is an even better one.
Well-respected ESPN national radio host and non-hot-taker, Ryen Russillo who worked in Boston during some of Rondo’s tenure, took to the airwaves to eviscerate the guard last season.
If the Bulls’ plan is to alienate their young core, budding superstar, head coach and fan base, then Rondo is the perfect fit.
Next: Fight Night Round 6: Rajon Rondo vs. Everybody
He will hinder the growth of every young player, especially Denzel Valentine and Jerian Grant. The deal undermines Butler, who without Rose, was a two-way star who commanded respect from their young core.
Rondo doesn’t care about helping the Bulls franchise get back on course.
Maybe the plan is to simply tank without appearing to? I doubt it. Maybe the fourth time’s the charm? I doubt that even more.
Bulls fans should get ready for a year-round circus trip next season.