Rajon Rondo signed with the Atlanta Hawks this summer
The Atlanta Hawks signed veteran point guard Rajon Rondo to a two-year, $15 million contract this offseason. While it wasn’t the splashiest move they made, it was an important one.
With the addition of Rondo and other key free agents like Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Hawks made it clear that winning is their first priority.
Ultimately, the team will have several goals for this season, and one of them is surely making the playoffs after being absent from postseason play for several years. But individually, how can players make sure they do their part to push the team to success and also achieve high individual marks?
Let’s take a look at three goals for the newly-acquired Rondo that he should consider striving for in 2020-21 with the Hawks.
Atlanta Hawks goals for Rajon Rondo: Bring playoff Rondo to the regular season
“Playoff Rondo” is very, very real.
Rajon Rondo regular season; playoff Box Plus/Minus
- 2016-17: -0.5; 6.6
- 2017-18: -0.3; 1.1
- 2019-20: -1.3; 3.6
Over the last three postseasons, Rondo has appeared in, Rondo has improved his Box Plus/Minus by over 4.0 on average. Considering a +2.0 is usually a mark of a pretty good player, that’s substantial.
A proven veteran, Rondo is on the downside of his career and preparing for a coaching role in the future, but he absolutely turns his abilities up to the max when it matters most.
That was fine for the Lakers last year, who put cruise control on for much of the regular season due to incredible talent that kept them afloat, but it won’t necessarily fly for what the Hawks need this season. They are not a sure-in for the playoffs, even in the Eastern Conference.
Looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017, Playoff Rondo won’t be of value to Atlanta if they can’t even get to the postseason.
Rondo is thankfully in one of the deepest position groups of the roster, so if he can’t be everything the Hawks need they should still be relatively OK, but if he can improve his regular-season play this year even slightly, it will greatly help the Hawks.