NBA free agency rumors have begun, even though we don’t know when the actual window will open yet. According to the New York Times’ Marc Stein, the LA Clippers are interested in Lakers free agent point guard Rajon Rondo.
Rondo, a 34-year-old veteran, won his 2nd NBA Championship this year with the Los Angeles Lakers. His first was won as a 21-year-old starter with former Clippers head coach Doc Rivers on the Boston Celtics in 2008.
Overall, Rondo had an underwhelming season for the Lakers last year, with fans even calling for his removal from the rotation at points. But, he was huge for the team in the biggest moments, playing 25 minutes per game in the playoffs (up from 20 in the regular season) and averaging 8.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 40% from three and contributing to the team’s highly cohesive defense-and-transition game with his length and basketball IQ. An often polarizing player over the course of his career, Rondo was credited as an important veteran leader for the Lakers, even critiquing LeBron James for poor body language.
After playing on a minimum-salary deal for the Lakers last season, early indications are that Rondo will decline his $2.6M player option for 2020-21 and test free agency, where his playoff performance and track record will likely land him a more lucrative contract. For the Clippers, that would likely mean the $5.7M taxpayer mid-level exception, which could be the team’s only way to add an above-minimum player this off-season. If the luxury tax is raised and the Clippers manage their cap carefully, they could have access to the $9.3M non-taxpayer mid-level exception and the $3.6M bi-annual exception, although the latter wouldn’t represent much of a raise for Rondo.
The Lakers have Rondo’s early bird rights, meaning they can pay him up to around $9.5M next season, though their willingness to do so is unclear. In part, indicating interest in the $5.7M range could be a bluff from the Clippers to attempt to bait the Lakers into making a more substantial financial commitment to a player they are likely to keep anyway.
But it’s also easy to see–even if we might not fully agree with–the argument for the Clippers adding Rondo. With starting point guard Patrick Beverley and sixth man scorer Lou Williams both struggling in the playoffs, LA has felt pressure this season to add a more traditional option at point guard with some playoff pedigree. Rondo was a tremendous asset to the Lakers in the 2020 playoffs, finishing third on the team in playoff win shares despite missing the first round with a hand injury.
I’d argue, though, that the Clippers’ playoff struggles had less to do with personnel and more to do with matters internal to the team, like a lack of regular-season intensity that was part of culture and cohesion shortcomings in big moments. Adding a player who clearly took the mindset of coasting through the regular season before flipping the “Playoff Rondo” switch could be a dangerous exacerbation of LAC’s issues with regular-season intensity.
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