Should Rajon Rondo Be An All-Star Come February?

Last offseason the Sacramento Kings took a gamble in signing point guard Rajon Rondo to a one-year deal. Although considering no other team had interest in the former All-Star, a gamble may be too extreme of a term. Any how, the investment has paid off so far this season both for the Kings and Rondo.

In his first 22 games with the Kings, Rondo has rejuvenated his career. Many analysts thought with the mix of his ACL injury in 2012, plus his ugly break-up with the Dallas Mavericks last season that Rondo’s cons outweighed his pros.

But as Kings fans and the league are seeing, Rondo looks more like he was in his glory days in Boston with the big three that won an NBA championship, played in the NBA Finals twice, and was the orchestrator for one of the powerhouses of the Eastern Conference.

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Any basketball fan knows that the performance of DeMarcus Cousins this season is inevitably going to earn him a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team come next February, but is Rondo is another name that belongs on the list as well?

Rondo has been more of the player that Kings fans originally expected when signing him. This season Rajon has averaged 12.3 points, 10.9 assists, and 6.8 rebounds a game, and is currently the league leader in assists this season, averaging 1.3 assists more than Russell Westbrook who is in second.

Nov 13, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo (9) drives in against the Brooklyn Nets during the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Sacramento Kings defeated the Brooklyn Nets 111-109. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Rajon has also been arguably the best player on the Kings, aside from Cousins. The Kings are ranked 4th in the NBA in points scored per game (104.8), and Rondo is significantly responsible for it. His ability to penetrate to the basket and find people to score has been excellent so far, and it has resulted in players like Rudy Gay, Marco Belinelli, and others to have high shooting efficiency from the court.

Granting all the success Rondo has had this season, he is still not an All-Star. He is making players and himself better statistically, but a stat that he hasn’t improved yet is the “W” column (record 7-15), which is the most important.

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Also, the Western Conference is filled with a bevy of talented players in his position. Players like Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul will always have the upper hand on Rondo by default based on their current/past personal and team accolades.

Overall, despite the surprising level of efficiency Rondo has produced for the Kings so far, he does not deserve to be an All-Star at this moment. However, if the Kings end up having a respectable record come All-Star weekend (February) and Rondo keeps producing the numbers he has had to this point, he could potentially squeak into one of the final spots on the roster. 

But with players like Curry, Westbrook, and Paul, plus adding Damian Lillard and Mike Conley to the mix, it will be a hefty task for Rondo to complete.