On Sunday, July 12th, Rajon Rondo injured his right hand with a thumb fracture that required surgery and was projected to miss 6-to-8-weeks of practice and all eight seeding games. As the Lakers prepare to take on the eight seed Portland Trailblazers and their dominant backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, it appears as if the former all-star guard will miss even more time going into the team’s first playoff series in seven years.
Vogel did say it's "unlikely" Rondo plays tomorrow. https://t.co/rU16EI05T0
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) August 17, 2020
Often throughout the season, Rondo played more like someone who didn’t belong in the league rather than the former elite caliber guard he once was. However, some fans were hoping to see remnants of “playoff Rondo” from years past with great runs on the Boston Celtics, including a title, and as a member of a pesky New Orleans Pelicans team that featured now Lakers frontcourt member Anthony Davis.
The Lakers could use any help that they can get in their backcourt this playoff run, as Avery Bradley recused himself from the NBA restart. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso have been holding their own in the bubble, but they alone won’t be enough to stop NBA Bubble MVP Damian Lillard who has averaged 37.3 points per game since the restart. Danny Green has struggled since the Lakers came back from the shutdown and JR Smith and Dion Waiters are still trying to find their place on the team. Talen Horton Tucker is too inexperienced and wild to be relied on in the postseason despite good looking stretches in the last few seeding games.
Regardless of when Rajon Rondo makes his return to the court, the Lakers will have to find a way to be productive in their backcourt with many great guards looming ahead later in the postseason.
