So far, the only serious suitor Rajon Rondo has seen in the wake of his disastrous time in Dallas has been the Sacramento Kings. And after talking to Rondo and hearing his requests, the Kings decided to try and overpay both Monta Ellis and Wesley Matthews. (To no avail, Ellis is headed to Indiana and Matthews to Dallas.)
But Rondo’s phone has rung again — the Lakers have touched base, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
A call is just a call... but heard the Lakers did call Rajon Rondo today to touch base.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 3, 2015
I don’t think we can say enough, this is just a phone call. It is nothing more than that right now.
The Lakers have two potentially very good young guards in Jordan Clarkson and the just drafted D’Angelo Russell. While the Lakers keep selling fans on speeding up the rebuild process by landing a superstar, the team remains on track to put together the kind of talented young roster that in a couple years could be attractive to those kinds of free agents. (Although, trading away their pick for next season in the Steve Nash deal certainly slows things down.)
I’m not sure bringing in Rondo helps that process. He and Kobe Bryant may get along because they are both uber competitive, but Rondo’s lack of a reliable jump shot has made him defendable, and his defense is good but not as good as its reputation. Look at it this way: During the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks had better numbers when Raymond Felton was on the court than Rondo.
I don’t think the Lakers are all that serious here. That said, if they could get Rondo on a short deal for less than $7 million a season, they might think about it.