Is Rajon Rondo still worth a Max-Contract?

Written by Taylor Odenat

NBA Champion Rajon Rondo was once considered one of the elite point guards in the NBA. However, since his departure from the Celtics along with his former running mates Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen; his name just isn't mentioned very often. His recent tenure with the Dallas Mavericks ended very poorly with Rondo faking injury in order to stop playing for the Mavericks any longer. This past season may have hurt Rondo’s stock on the free agent market this offseason and has shown that he isn't as much of an asset as he once was.

During his sixth year run as point guard for the Boston Celtics, Rajon was very productive and ran the show with his dishing and diming on the offensive end. Rondo also got it done on the defensive end, leading the NBA in steals in the 2009-2010 season as well finishing top 5 in steals in the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 seasons. Rondo is a leader on the offensive end and an outright floor general. His flashy and precise passes would constantly top highlight reels and keep him in the talks for best point guard in the NBA. Even though Rondo has yet to develop a consistent jump shot from anywhere on the court, he thrived as the fourth option for the Celtics and showed off offensive outbursts when he needed to.

Rondo, however, is not the most cooperative person to work with. Rondo is a ball dominant point guard who wants the ball is in his hands to set up the right play at the right time and demands the ability to call and change the plays at his say so. That isn’t a luxury many coaches would let their players have but under his former coach Doc Rivers, Rondo had that freedom. He knew the playbook front to back so Rivers gave him the privilege of calling the plays on offense that he thought would best suit the situation. However, as many would assume, not many NBA coaches are going to be as accommodating. 

 Rick Carlisle certainly wasn’t accommodating to Rondo’s need to feel in charge. The two shared several verbal transfers and just weren’t compatible. It isn’t completely necessary, but it is in a team’s best interest that their point guard and their coach be on the same page. This was not the case this season in Dallas. Rondo has a strong tendency to make the complicated and unnecessary pass instead of the first pass he sees; that is apart of the package that is Rajon Rondo. Carlisle wasn’t pleased with the turnovers this style of play brought about which would commonly lead to disagreements between the guard and head coach. Although it was prior established that Rondo has some personality issues, this failure of a trade may cost Rondo a ton of money in the offseason.

When Rondo was putting up insane triple doubles and leading the league in assists, it wouldn't have been a question if he deserved a max contract. Despite his constant shooting woes, his play in the other aspects of the game made up for it. He was a great passer, rebounder for his position, and perimeter defender. Those important feats have not been evident at this stage of his career. He’s 29 years old, so its not like he's got nothing left in the tank, but Rondo did not improve the Mavericks like he was initially expected to when they traded for him. Mark Cuban thought he made the perfect offensive juggernaut with Rondo at point guard, Monta Ellis at shooting guard, Chandler Parsons at small forward, Dirk Nowitzki at power forward, and Tyson Chandler at center; but Rondo struggled to bring this dream to life. He finished the season with the Mavericks averaging 9.3 ppg, 6.5 apg and 4.5 rpg on 43% shooting. Rondo was never much of a scorer, but these numbers don’t match up to those of prior seasons.

The only place where Rondo seems to fit is in Los Angeles, but not for his former coach Doc Rivers on the Clippers. Instead, he fits playing for Byron Scott alongside Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers. Most NBA teams aren’t looking for a ball dominant point guard with erratic shooting and an attitude problem, but the Lakers need to give their fans a reason to come to the games and the lottery finishing season they had doesn't give fans a reason to pay for tickets.

The question that remains is as follows: Should Los Angeles pay Rondo max contract money? Well, playing for a new coach under a new system with different players might show the basketball world that he’s still an elite point guard, so LA should offer him a max deal. Max contract money can either change a player for the better or for the worse, in Rondo’s case in order to show that he is still elite in this league it needs to change him for the better. This by no means will shoot the Lakers back into title contention as Rondo was unable to lead a more skilled Mavericks team back to the Finals. However, it will give Lakers fans a reason to buy tickets and will entice other free agents to sign as well. A Rondo signing will show free agents that the Lakers are making an effort to push themselves back into Western Conference playoffs.

All Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference unless stated otherwise