Less than half a season after the Atlanta Hawks traded Rajon Rondo to the LA Clippers for Lou Williams, Rondo has been moved again. He was part of the trade that sent Eric Bledsoe from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Clippers, the second time that Bledsoe has been moved this offseason.
One of the problems of the Grizzles in this trade is that they moved one player and got back three, Rondo, Patrick Beverley, and Daniel Oturu. The Grizzlies then sent Beverley to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez.
This leaves the Grizzlies with 17 fully contracted players, which they need to get down to 15, plus both two-way players prior to the season commencing. Rondo is much older than the two players received in the Beverley trade and the Grizzlies are building a good young core so will probably keep Culver and Hernangomez over Rondo
Former Atlanta Hawks guard Rajon Rondo will be looking for a new home.
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During his time with the Hawks last season, Rondo showed that he was not able to play his brand of basketball with a young core. While Rondo may be one of the best assist men in the game, his time with the Hawks last season showed that without superstars around him, Rondo’s effectiveness drops. He even had Brandon Goodwin go past him in the rotation last season.
However, it is a little difficult to see where Rondo fits in at the moment. Since playing his first eight and a half seasons with the Boston Celtics, the longest tenure he has had with the other seven teams that he has played on is one and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.
He has played for the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans, Lakers, Hawks, and finally the LA Clippers. For a player who has such an impressive resume, this is a lot of teams in a short time.
Part of the issue is that Rondo is a different player from most others and is a different type of character. Some fans in Dallas have not moved on from the way he acted when he played there and that was almost seven years ago.
If he does come back to the league, Rondo could return to the Lakers. They are a veteran team who have superstars which is where his game shines. One thing is for certain, the Hawks should not free up a roster spot to pursue Rondo, last season proved that he was not a good fit for the team.