Rajon Rondo doesn’t think highly of last season’s Sacramento Kings.
But he still has complete faith in himself.
Some don’t think a player of Rondo’s ilk can be valuable in today’s NBA. He needs the ball in his hands to be effective, doesn’t shoot threes, can eat up the shot clock by over-dribbling, and no longer separates himself on the defensive end. The Chicago Bulls went as far as removing Rondo from their rotation for a little bit, only to throw him back in over the last four games.
Though Rondo is in the first season of a two-year deal, next season’s salary isn’t guaranteed. It’s fair to bank on him becoming a free agent this summer, provided he’s not traded (beyond unlikely) or bought out (eh) before the season over. And Rondo, to his credit, still believes he can be effective.
After all, look what he did with the Sacramento Kings last season, right?
From NBA.com’s David Aldridge:
“It’s just, maybe, the personnel in this situation,” Rondo says in response. “I mean, last year — I hate to keep talking about last year — but you couldn’t name three people on my team, the Sacramento Kings, and I led the league in assists. You know? I don’t know. I believe so (that his skill set still has value), given the right personnel and the flow of the game.”
Okay, cool. Rondo led the league in assists while repping a 14th-ranked offense that burned through more possessions per 48 minutes than any other team. Wonderful.
Different personnel isn’t going to save Rondo. Would he be able to stay on the floor for a team that surrounds him with four lights-out spot-up shooters who also happen to be lockdown defenders? Absolutely, but the same can be said for just about everyone.
Tailoring a team around Rondo is too specific a task to be a viable option. And he cannot point to a high-possession campaign and claim it’s all good—especially at the expense of others. He needs to be more deft at working off the ball, hitting jumpers, exerting effort on defense and, well, getting past this idea that he’s a star in a league threatening to leave him behind.
