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Rajon Rondo Named Worst Newcomer By ESPN

By Ti Windisch

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Well, we had made it a while without the national media needlessly attacking the Sacramento Kings. That all ended when ESPN named Rajon Rondo it’s “Worst newcomer of 2015-16“. Here we go again…

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To be honest, there is a case for Rondo as a bad signing. I’ve given Rondo just a C+ based on how I expect his next season to go, for good reason. He’s got serious injury concerns based on the past few seasons, and his offensive game is very limited based on his inability to shoot.

But the deal is only for one season, and although it’s an obvious overpay (I’d be shocked if another team came close to giving Rondo $9.5 million) I don’t think it makes Rajon Rondo even close to the absolute worst newcomer this offseason.

But of course ESPN loves their narratives, because it makes for easy stories and lots of views. The caption on the picture of Rondo that accompanies the article ever-so-sensationally states “Don’t be surprised when Rajon Rondo plummets the Kings to even further depths.”

Wow, so I suppose all the solid young players Vlade Divac brought in to finally give this team depth and help relieve the actually-excellent first unit the Kings have are all useless because Rajon Rondo is going to “plummet” the Kings. I guess we should just give up now.

The thing is, even if Rondo doesn’t play well or gets injured he’ll at most set the Sacramento Kings back one season. That’s all he’ll spend in Sacramento, if he doesn’t work out as a King. And that’s why I don’t see him as one of the worst newcomers of the offseason.

Enes Kanter, who was toxic enough to inspire the entire state of Utah to hate his guts and has no idea what defense even is, got a four-year, $70 million contract from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wesley Matthews is coming off of a ruptured Achilles tendon and also got a four-year, $70 million dollar contract.

Those deals eat up huge amounts of their respective team’s salary cap over the next four years, and both have a definite chance of bombing in the same way that Rajon Rondo does in Sacramento. Matthews ranked third on ESPN’s list and Kanter didn’t even get a vote, somehow.

Is the Rondo signing a brilliant move that will result in an NBA Championship for the Kings this season? No.

But it’s not about to collapse the entire city of Sacramento, despite ESPN’s dire words about the situation. Most likely, Rondo does okay and misses a few games but nothing terrible happens. It’s also possible he does terribly or does really well. Even if Rondo tries to fight George Karl and gets benched like he did in Dallas, the Kings can just cut him, it’s that easy.

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