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Rondo and Kings: Fit Like A Glove

By Connor Schumock

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On Wednsday night the Sacramento Kings traded three players and swapped the rights of multiple draft picks in order to free up nearly $20 million in additional cap room. With this money the Kings were expected to pursue some of the top available free agents, most notably Wesley Matthews and Monta Ellis. So what have the Kings done with all that extra cash? First they made a very solid signing in ex-Spur Marco Belinelli. Belinelli will help addressing the Kings shooting woes while providing valuable experience and depth off the bench. The other signing the Kings made was Rajon Rondo. Rondo and the Kings agreed to a 1-year, $10 million contract friday evening.

Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Rondo, who was a key member of the Boston Celtics championship team and regarded as one of the top point guards in the league, has seen his stoke plummet in the past year. After being enveloped in trade rumors for over a year, Boston finally shipped out the talented guard to the Dallas Mavericks. Rondo seemed like an ideal fit to a high tempo team loaded with shooters. However, Rondo’s personality clashed with Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle and he was unable to find much success. It escalated to the point where the team made up an injury so that Rondo would not play in the teams final playoff games. Rondo was also denied a playoff share, something voted on by his fellow teammates.

On paper, this seems like a solid deal for Sacramento. At 29 years old Rondo is still in the prime of his career, although he has struggled since returning from a torn ACL. Last season Rondo averaged nine points, five rebounds, and eight assists per game. These are solid numbers, and they were even more impressive before he was traded to Dallas.

Ideally, Rondo should help the Kings, especially with his play-making ability. There is a talented group of offensive players on the Kings roster, which should hep make Rondo’s job as an assist man easier. His terrific passing ability should help the development of shooter Ben McLemore and rookie big man Willie Cauley-Stein. Once a defensive stalwart, Rondo could also be very beneficial on the defensive end if he can return to his old form.

The one year contract represents a bit of a last chance for Rondo. His level of play, and reputation around the league, has declined in recent years. The one year contract gives Rondo a great opportunity to show teams that his contributions on the court can out-weigh his rather infamous attitude off it. The fact that this is the last chance for Rondo could motivate him more to keep his ego in check,and play at a level we were accustomed to seeing out of him.

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This deal was questionable for many reasons. The teams obvious quest to upgrade the point guard position could certainly affect the chemistry of the current roster, particularly Darren Collison, who was having a terrific year before an injury cut his season short. Rondo, who is notorious for conflicting with his coaches and teams, might only add more fire to an already explosive situation in the Kings locker room. A team featuring DeMarcus Cousins and Rondo, with George Karl as the head coach, features a lot of different attitudes.

The presence of Rudy Gay, Rondo’s good friend, may hep Rondo ease in with his new team. Or it could lead to even more fracturing in the locker room. There is still the question if Rondo can even perform at a high level. His play has been worse ever since returning from the injury, and his efficiency has been abysmal.

In the best case scenario, Rondo would flourish in George Karl’s up-tempo system, and a guard rotation of Rondo, Collison, McLemore, and Belinelli creates a deadly combination of offensive firepower and defensive toughness. His relationship with Rudy Gay would also allow him to quickly mesh with the team. Realizing that this is his last real opportunity, Rondo sets his ego aside and once again becomes the passing mistro of old.

Unfortunately, a much more real possibility is that a combination of Rondo, Cousins, and Karl begin butting heads, which adds to an already tense locker room. Rondo’s play continues to decline, and you have an unhappy $10 million player sitting on your bench. In terms of the actual contract, it is low risk for Sacramento, they have money to spend and get a point guard who has the potential to be one of the top assist men in the league. The one year deals gives them plenty of options to dump him, should Rondo begin causing issues for the team. They also sacrifice little financially freedom, as they are not locked in on a multi-year deal.

In this case the risk outweighs the reward. Sure Rondo could return to is former glory, but even with a fully capable Rondo this team couldn’t realistically compete for a championship in the ever improving Western Conference. If there is one silver lining to this situation its that the Kings, and this roster are completely unpredictable. There are some many variables that it is hard to predict what will come of this move, but I figure it can’t really get much worse.

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