Here we go again.
For the umpteenth time.
Rajon Rondo and the Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to one another for a while now. The former is going to be an unrestricted free agent; the latter is in the market for superstars who can both get along with Kobe Bryant and usher in the post-Kobe era.
Anyone hoping those rumors would die down at any point are officially free to feel disappointed.
From Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (h/t Eye On Basketball):
The Lakers are not in the market for a guy who can make the team better; they need a bona fide star, the kind of player they thought they were getting when they traded for Dwight Howard in 2012. The Howard deal flopped, though, and the Lakers have been rudderless since. It could be Bryant’s final season, and the franchise does not want to send him off with yet another rebuilding year, though that might be in the best long-term interest of the team. Assuming the Lakers stay in win-soon mode, it is a safe bet that they will go hard after the two top point guards on the market, with Bryant’s pal Rajon Rondo at the head of the list and Goran Dragic behind him.
It’s tough to tell why exactly Rondo edges out Goran Dragic.
Actually, no it’s not.
Dragic is the more polished offensive player. He fails to rival Rondo’s craftiness or defense, but his court vision is solid, he slides into lanes just as well, orchestrates pick-and-rolls in his sleep and, most importantly, can double as an off-ball weapon, something Rondo has never been.
But aside from not being Kobe’s BFF, Dragic isn’t going to be obtainable. The Miami Heat didn’t give up two first-round picks with the intention of bidding him farewell this summer. They’re going to pay him handsomely. Pat Riley has a knack for negotiating bargain contracts, but if it takes a max or near-max deal to keep him, the Heat will keep him. Bet on it.
Rondo, meanwhile, continues to shuffle in and out of the rumor mill with the Dallas Mavericks. Depending on the day, he’s either happy, disgruntled, confused, an okay fit, a soon-to-be awesome fit or a terrible fit. That uncertainty makes him a more attractive option, if only because he’s actually an option.
For the Lakers’ purposes, though, signing a point guard may not be the way to go. Rookie Jordan Clarkson is playing impressive basketball, and assuming the Lakers retain their top-five protected pick, there’s a chance they wind up with D’Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay, two point guards who can play on and off the ball and, thus, coexist alongside Clarkson.
Investing in Rondo or Dragic or any other floor general would be overkill. And while the Lakers are looking for an instant turnaround, they cannot do so at the expense of the future. Stockpiling talent at the league’s deepest position would be disingenuous to the task at hand.
Expect their free-agent shopping list, then, to be directly impacted by their draft-day exploits—assuming they’re involved in the draft-day festivities at all.
