Rajon Rondo Isn’t Clear, But What About Dwyane Wade?

A report from Nick Friedell of ESPN.com on Wednesday afternoon addressed comments from Rajon Rondo regarding his meeting with Chicago Bulls management regarding his benching and future. It got even more interesting when reading remarks from Dwyane Wade.

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It doesn’t get much clearer than this – the Bulls front office don’t know what they’re doing. How is this clear? Because they continue to leave players unclear about their roles and future with the team, even after face-to-face discussions with Rondo regarding his benching, future role in Chicago and the possibility of moving him to another team where he can get more court time.

According to Friedell’s piece, Rondo had the following to say:

"“It really wasn’t a clear-cut message [from Forman and Paxson]. We’ll talk again.”"

This news is anything but great for the player, the team or the fans. But it isn’t a revelation to anyone who follows this Bulls team closely. Gar Forman and John Paxson may spend most of their time working behind the scenes, but they’ve painted an increasingly damning picture with their actions. This front office doesn’t know what they want or how to get there.

Leadership in any field of work is meant to do many things and help facilitate a team reaching their goals. Leadership is also supposed to make decisions that push their team or organization toward a clear-cut goal. Forman and Paxson are still caught between pretend contender and lottery rebuilder.

All of this is mostly recycled knowledge. Unfortunately, what I’m saying is mostly falling on the receptive ears of the choir. It was the little nugget at the end from Wade that seemed a bit more concerning.

"“He’s been in a great place with his teammates,” Bulls guard Dwyane Wade said. “That’s all you can ask for. Obviously, you don’t expect him to be jolly that he’s not playing the game that he loves. But when it comes to his teammates, he’s been great. He’s been staying in it, keeps talking to guys. He’s been here every day. It’s a tough situation. There are a lot of players on this team that don’t really understand. But it’s not for us to understand. It’s our job to play. He’s a teammate of ours. You never know what happens. We stick together. He’s been doing a great job of it.”"

Some of this is just standard player banter to the media. Wade is one of the very best among all NBA players when it comes to engaging the media and giving the right answer in these types of situations. But his remarks are just the latest to ring of a lack of clarity.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune had this quote from Taj Gibson on Monday:

Taj Gibson on Rajon Rondo benching: "I asked. I haven't gotten any word yet, so I'm still waiting."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 2, 2017

Gibson states that he has asked about Rondo’s benching and received no response. Wade states that there are “a lot” of players in Chicago who don’t understand. Part of this might come down to using language to support their teammate who is currently marooned on the bench. It would be particularly awkward if, when pressed, Rondo’s teammates all failed to support him in any way. What would happen if/when he returns to the lineup? It’s some mighty fine basketball politicking.

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The other side of this, however, is that multiple players have now made it clear via the media that answers have not been forthcoming, even upon request. If the front office is being lobbied for answers by players like Wade, Gibson and Rondo himself to no avail, that look more like an organizational failure. However, if these players have true concerns and are being stonewalled, the front office is not just disorganized and failing, they’re about to lose this team and that would be a significant amount of trouble.