Rajon Rondo proved his playoff mettle by helping the Los Angeles Lakers win a title. In this projection, he goes full mercenary jumping to postseason hotspots, bolstering his basketball legacy along the way.
Rajon Rondo takes up his central position and scans the battlefield. He’s surveying the options as his comrades fan out, eager and intent, waiting for his signal. He starts the assault with a bird call, a Pelican I think, that he has picked up in numerous NBA war-zones during his 14 years of basketball combat.
Anthony Davis has worked with Rondo before and recognizes the cue instantly. He flies in, again like a Pelican, to gobble up the ball and defender in one fell swoop. He throws down the alley-oop with a satisfied scream and points to the wily captain who set it all into motion. Rajon Rondo just back-pedals though; emotionless and already barking out directives about the counterattack. He’s seen enough in his time to expect that outcome all along and know what’s coming back at them.
Once the driving force behind the Boston Celtics, setting the table to unleash the full capabilities of the talented operators around him, Rajon Rondo kind of wore out both his welcomes and usefulness. Before landing with the Los Angeles Lakers two seasons ago, Rajon Rondo bounced around between six teams over a four year period. Something started to happen during that time though. When the s*** was hitting the fan and getting heavy in the hotly contested playoff insurgencies, Rondo was coming up big, proving his guile and experience invaluable to rebellious causes.
It started in Chicago where he led the upstart Bulls to a 2-0 lead against the Eastern overloads, the Celtics before an injury forced him out of action. The Bulls were routed in the next four contests without him in the lineup. Recuperated and now fighting on the Western Flank, Rajon Rondo led the New Orleans Pelicans to a surprising blitz of the Blazers in the Portland Engagements. Two seasons later and also recuperated from injury, his return to the Lakers lent a steadying presence and play-maker to a team that looked a little shaky in the bubble restart before the playoffs began.
What Rajon Rondo has started to do is build a playoff legend, a recurring theme at that time of year when legends grow strong and fast. He has shown that while he can lead the underdogs to some surprising victories, he can help push those teams seeking to win it all over the top. Maybe Rajon Rondo can end up like “Big Shot Bob”, Robert Horry, a playoff specialist and legend in his own right, winning seven titles among three different teams. If so, “Playoff” Rajon Rondo would surely increase his Hall of Fame chances as well as the myth surrounding his new nickname whether he likes it or not.
Here’s a look at Rajon Rondo with three teams in the West and three in the East, as he searches for where the battles are most intense, where the need for his services could reap the greatest rewards. He has a player option with the Lakers for $2.7 million next season that he’s expected to decline and could go virtually anywhere on mid-level type deals, including to all the teams in this projection.