July 13th, 9:38pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
July 3rd, 6:17pm: The Kings and Rajon Rondo have reached an agreement to bring the point guard to Sacramento for the 2015/16 campaign, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (on Twitter). It is a one-year, $10MM pact, adds Spears. Rondo agreed to a short-term deal with the expectation to cash in on a major raise in salaries and the salary cap when the league’s new television deal kicks in next summer, Spears adds.
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Sacramento forward Rudy Gay played an instrumental role in the Kings landing Rondo, who is a close friend of his, Spears notes (Twitter links). Rondo also played a part in the team’s signing of Marco Belinelli, having asked the team to land a shooter, the Yahoo! scribe adds. The team is planning on using Rondo and Darren Collison in the same backcourt at times, according to Spears’ sources.
Things turned sour quickly for Rondo last season after being acquired by the Mavs. He made 46 appearances for the team, averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in 28.7 minutes per contest, with a slash line of .436/.352/.452. His career numbers are 10.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 8.3 APG, with a shooting line of .470/.263/.609.
It should be quite interesting to watch the relationship between Rondo and new Kings coach George Karl. Karl has had run-ins with star players before, including Kings center DeMarcus Cousins. Rondo, meanwhile, has had difficulties with virtually every coach he has played for in the league, including Mavs coach Rick Carlisle during the 2014/15 season, resulting in the point guard being benched in the playoffs.
Bit of an overpay, and I personally think Darren Collison is a better fit anyway. Obviously, it’s only 1 year, so they can get away from it if anything.
The Kings have been trying to overpay several players. They finally found someone willing to take their money.
Rondo actually shot a lot better from 3 than I realized last year…they got bellinelli, but they still need another shooter/improvement from Ben mclemore, and obviously they need to play better defense on the perimeter.
The Rondo-Cousins chemistry could be interesting to watch, assuming DeMarcus stays in Sacramento. Rondo could help Cousins get a lot more easy baskets, and Rondo could have a long-term future with the Kings. Or they could be fighting over touches by December.
The Kings look like they are getting together a bunch of misfits…like u said only ones that will take their money lol…but i believe its possible Rondo will be on his best behavior to land that contract he was seeking this year before the meltdown.