Following Dwight Howard's return to the Los Angeles Lakers, another former Lakers champion appears to be on the verge of returning to Purple Gold.
On August 29, Beijing time, according to the famous NBA reporter Adrian Wenarowski reported that sources revealed that the Memphis Grizzlies have reached a buyout agreement with two-time championship and four-time All-Star player Rajan Rondo.
Half a month ago, 35-year-old Rajon Rondo was traded to the Grizzlies by the Los Angeles Clippers along with Patrick Beverly and Daniel O'Tulu in exchange for Eric Bledsoe. After the deal is reached, the Grizzlies will have 17 players who will receive full guarantee contracts, and the Grizzlies will inevitably need to adjust some full guarantee contracts or make player trades.
Journalist Bobby Max revealed on Twitter: "Rondo was not asked by the team to participate in the team medical examination after being traded to the Grizzlies, which shows that the player will not stay on the team for long. Rondo's last-year contract was worth $8.3 million, so it's no surprise that Rondo was bought out.
Sources revealed that Rondo will become a full free agent after a clarification period on September 2 and may sign with the Lakers. The Lakers' roster now has a total of 12 guarantee contracts, and there are still three vacancies in the Lakers' roster according to the requirement to submit a 15-man roster before the start of the season.
ESPN expects the veteran, who has played in the league for 16 seasons, to renew the frontier with the Lakers on a base salary contract. Longdo will most likely take on the main ball possession responsibility during the breaks of LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, continuing to provide the Lakers with depth in point guard positions.
According to statistics, if the Lakers re-sign Rondo later, the Lakers will have 3 passers in the top fifteen in history. James averaged 7.4 times per game for a total of 9,696 times, ranking 8th. Westbrook averaged 8.5 times per game for a total of 8,061 times, ranking 12th on the list. Rondo averaged 8.1 passes per game for a total of 7,414, ranking 14th.
Lakers fans are once again shouting: Lakers championship! But don't get busy. Please note: Once Rondo signs, there will be 10 players aged 32 or older in the Lakers.
Strange to say, the Lakers' offseason reinforcements highlight a word "old". The new arrivals are either veterans or old people on the Lakers. Rondo is the fifth former Lakers player to return to the Lakers this offseason, following Howard, Trevo Ariza, Wayne Ellington and Kent Bazemore. The other two big signings are Cameron Anthony, who is about to turn 37, and Westbrook, 33.
So is it really as the Internet rumor says: 35 years old is the entry threshold for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021? Okay, narondo is qualified.
The Lakers' performance last season disappointed all Lakers players, management and fans, who were eager to defend their titles and even strategically gave up the regular season. However, the Lakers, who are only seventh in the West in the regular season, met the ultimate Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns after defeating the Warriors in the playoffs. "Thick eyebrows" were accidentally injured, and the 36-year-old LeBron James could not reproduce the state of devastation in his youth, and was eventually eliminated by the Suns in the first round.
Rondo, one of the heroes of the 2020 Lakers' championship, was also a bit frustrated last season. Although he won a two-year, $15 million contract with the Hawks for his performance in the Lakers' championship season, injuries left him without many opportunities to perform with the Hawks. Rondo played in 45 games with the Clippers and Hawks last season, averaging 5.4 points and 4.4 assists per game and shooting a career-high 40.4 percent three-point range.
It's no secret that Rondo's influence is often not only on the field, he is often seen as the team's unofficial assistant coach. However, the Hawks saw that the playoffs were in a good situation and wanted to increase their immediate combat power, so the Hawks made a deal with the Clippers in the middle of the season, in exchange for Louis Williams. After coming to the Clippers, Rondo's cooperation with the Clippers was not smooth, and it is not too much to say that the playoffs are spectators.
The Lakers now have 10 guards on their roster — Westbrook, Horton Tucker, Nunn, Ellington, Bazemore, Malik Munch, Chandy Brown, Mark McLaren, Austin Reeves and Al Ayay. What if you add Rondo? Even if the next few 2021 rookies are not used, are the 7 defenders a little too "rich"? Rondo's three-pointers are getting more and more reasonable, but the years are getting older, and his defensive ability gradually declines with age. The 2020 Lakers' forward finishers are enough to accept Rondo's defense. At this time and another, the 2021 Lakers' lineup can tolerate Rondo's shortcomings, which is really worth a question mark.
Of course, the Lakers should not care how Rondo plays in the regular season. They've learned the power of 'playoff Rondo,' and Anthony Davis has said in terms of personal experience: "I've only heard about it before, but in 2018, against the Trail Blazers series, I saw this guy make a difference. ”。
"When I came to the Lakers, the first person I contacted was Rondo, and I wanted to play with him." Davis said.
James has also once boasted that Rondo is "one of the players with the highest IQ in basketball I've ever seen, and he's like the brain of a team." Given some of Westbrook's inherent shortcomings, the Lakers' positional warfare organization may really need a Rondo.
This season's Lakers' signings are like a reflection on the Lakers' management's failures last season. They brought back the departed members and recruited more experienced veterans with the intention of returning to the top of the league within a year.
Han Xin points out soldiers, the more the merrier. Can a group of middle-aged men with an average age of 35 win the championship again? Whether Vogel is Han Xin or not, and whether Pelinka is Xiao He, the judgment is still a little early. Wait, the good drama of the new season is still to come.