The Los Angeles Lakers have been active so far in free agency, replacing a couple of key members leaving the team. Danny Green was traded, Dwight Howard joined the 76ers in free agency, and Avery Bradley signed with the Heat as the Lakers have replaced those two with Dennis Schröder, Wes Matthews, and Montrezl Harrell. Schröder was suspected to either be a replacement or insurance for the potential of Rajon Rondo leaving the Lakers in free agency, as he has been connected to the Hawks and Clippers as of late. Those reports appeared to have some substance, as it is now reported (by Chris Haynes/Yahoo Sports) that Rondo will be joining the Atlanta Hawks.
Free agent guard Rajon Rondo has reached an agreement with the Atlanta Hawks on a two-year, $15 million deal, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 21, 2020
As the Lakers now have Schröder, the loss of Rajon Rondo may not hurt the Lakers too much going into the 2020-21 season. However, he was a beloved guy by seemingly everyone in the locker room and the organization, as the most important people really liked him with compliments raining down on Rondo often from LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel, and Rob Pelinka.
He will play backup point guard to Trae Young, and will probably occupy a bit of a mentor role to the young superstar. Trae’s glaring weakness is his defense, however, an area where I doubt Rondo could help at this point of his career. However, Rondo is definitely one of the smartest basketball players around.
Rajon Rondo averaged 8.1 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in his two seasons with the Lakers. “Playoff Rondo” came out for the Lakers in the bubble, as he averaged 8.9 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game as he won his second championship.
Speaking of which, what’s most important is that Rondo now has the same amount of championships with the Lakers as he does with the Celtics.
Thank you, Rondo!
