"Playoff Rondo" Didn't Make The Trip To Dallas, But It's Not Like Rondo Is Sticking Around

Playoff Rondo didn’t make the trip to Dallas, but it’s not like Rondo is sticking around
Kurt Helin Apr 22, 2015, 8:30 AM EDT




Portland Trailblazers v Dallas Mavericks
Getty Images



In the first half of Dallas’ Game 2 loss to Houston Tuesday, Rajon Rondo so nonchalantly walked the ball up the court — under no pressure from a defender — that he got an eight-second backcourt violation.

That lack of awareness and effort seems to sum up Rajon Rondo’s playoff effort in Dallas.

Playoff Rondo, who was a thing in Boston, did not make the flight to Texas.

Rondo has struggled to fit in with the Mavericks since coming to Dallas in a December blockbuster trade. He has clashed with coach Rick Carlisle, mainly about offensive freedom and control, with both sides having said they worked through it and that it was all good now. But the playoffs have a way of stripping away the latest coat of varnish and exposing things as they truly are — and it is clear Rondo is not a fit with what Dallas does. He makes them worse.

Rondo has played 37 minutes total in the first two playoff games this season and Dallas has been outscored by 35 points in that time.

Rondo picked up two fouls and a technical in the first :36 seconds of the second half Tuesday night. Carlisle promptly benched him, and Rondo didn’t see the court the rest of the game — because J.J. Barea and Raymond Felton were simply better. Carlisle and the Mavericks need to find a way to beat the Rockets (Dallas trails 0-2 in the series), and Rondo does not help that cause.

After the game, Rondo avoided the media while Carlisle largely dodged the Rondo question.

“You have to ask him (whether he cared about being benched),” Carlisle said in a postgame press conference broadcast on NBA TV. “All I know right now is that we need everybody at their competitive best. This isn’t about one guy who did or didn’t play. This is about everybody pulling in the same direction for the organization. That’s what it’s about.”

The other thing that has become clear: Rondo is gone from Dallas this summer.

He is an unrestricted free agent, and there will be no shortage of suitors — expect the Lakers among others to reach out. But it will be interesting to see if any GM still will offer him the max deal Danny Ainge had said Rondo deserves. Maybe more interesting, how many years will Rondo be offered? He seems to have lost some of his explosiveness following years of injuries, which hurts both his offensive penetration and his defense. Combine that with a lack of outside shooting any team fears and Rondo destroys offensive spacing.

That’s what has him on the bench in Dallas, and he may not see the court much at all the rest of this series. Dallas doesn’t want to be one-and-done in the playoffs.

But Rondo wants to be one-and-done in Dallas. And it shows.




bob
MY NOTE: Jae Crowder is looking better and better by the minute and Trader Danny is looking like a genius. I was one of the people who wanted to keep Rondo as a draw for other all-stars and thought we got robbed on this deal. I was wrong.


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PT of less than 10 minutes.  An unforced 8 second violation, a technical and two fouls all within 36 seconds?

Rondo is on strike.  He's definitely gone from Dallas at season's end  but will he even see any more daylight for the remainder of the series?

Going to be fascinating to see who will bite during the off season.

Maybe the Lakers? Kobe loves Rondo and he has some personal experience with cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Kobe understands.

Must be tough for his Dallas teammates to see Rondo's misfortunes getting more ink than their playoff hopes (although the two subjects are obviously intertwined).  Back when I think I initiated the term "Rondo-centric," I never realized how many situations it would apply to.

Sam

In Rondo's defense, that 8 second violation was caused in part because Rajon was looking over at Carlisle trying to figure out what play Rick was calling. He was overthinking too much and not just playing ball with the instinctual alacrity for which the situation called. Regardless, he's not a good fit in Dallas. A healthy Kobe might just be the perfect ally for him. Rajon could feed him and Kevin Love passes all day long. Add Towns to the mix at center and the Lakers could be a dangerous team. Sorry TJ for suggesting this. I do so not to bury the Lakers but to praise them.

http://nesn.com/2015/04/report-rajon-rondo-wants-mavericks-to-choose-between-him-rick-carlisle/



Report: Rajon Rondo Wants Mavericks To Choose Between Him, Rick Carlisle


by Ben Watanabe on Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 11:07AM



No matter how things ended in Boston, Rajon Rondo always will be Celtics royalty. He helped win a championship here. He played through injury here. He enjoyed the best years of his NBA career here.

The same can’t be said for Rondo in Dallas, which is why the free-agent-to-be’s reported ultimatum to the Mavericks is puzzling at best and laughable at worst.

Rondo will not re-sign with the Mavericks “as long as the coach is back,” Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday, citing league sources. After some noteworthy disagreements with Rick Carlisle, Rondo understandably wouldn’t want to play under a coach with whom he doesn’t see eye-to-eye.

Yet Rondo lacks the upper hand in Dallas, where Carlisle guided the Mavericks to the 2011 NBA Finals, resulting in a victory over LeBron James’ Miami Heat. Carlisle is one of the league’s top tacticians, and he has done a masterful job of integrating Monta Ellis into the Dallas system.

Ellis, like Rondo, came to the Mavs with a less-than-flowery reputation, but there has not been a hint of controversy regarding the 10-year veteran in Dallas.

Whatever the Mavs hoped to accomplish with their midseason trade, Rondo hasn’t lived up to them. Dallas’ top-ranked offense got worse after the Rondo acquisition, and the point guard was benched Tuesday after a number of eyebrow-raising plays in the Mavs’ Game 2 first-round playoff loss to the Houston Rockets.

Maybe in a different time, with a different team, under different circumstances, Rondo might have successfully positioned himself against the head coach and won. But the Mavs canning Carlisle to appease Rondo is almost as outlandish as them trading Dirk Nowitzki to keep No. 9 in Big D. In other words, prepare to see Rondo in different colors next season.



bob


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Rajon might be preparing himself for a gig as a stand up comedian. I saw a video of Kevin Hart performing in Cleveland with LeBron in the audience. Hart was hilarious poking fun at King James who was bedside himself with laughter.

Rondo's an unrestricted FA.  He can just walk away.  He wants to stay in Dallas after killing the coach to say nothing about the team's playoff run?

I agree with Worcester.  The guy's a pretty fair comedian.

Sadly, the joke is on Rajon.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dallas-mavericks-went-rajon-rondo-142433245.html


The Dallas Mavericks went all-in on the Rajon Rondo trade, and it has been a nightmare
Business Insider By William Scott Davis
4 hours ago




Rajon Rondo played less than 10 minutes in Game 2 of the playoffs.The NBA world was always waiting for the playoffs to judge the Rajon Rondo trade.

Though the Dallas Mavericks' offense — the NBA's best before the trade — fell off after acquiring Rondo and their defense only got marginally better, it was Rondo's playoff experience and extra gear that was supposed to be the ultimate benefit.

Regular season evidence pointed to Rondo being a bad fit with the Mavs — he was the only Maverick to play over 1,000 regular season minutes and have a negative net rating. But his championship experience and ability to post triple-doubles with ease was supposed to be the factor that turned the Mavericks into a title contender.

Instead, the Mavericks are down 2-0 in their first-round series with the Houston Rockets, and the trade looks like a disaster.

Rondo played less than 10 minutes in Game 2. He played only 34 seconds in the second half before he was benched for backup point guards J.J. Barea and Raymond Felton, who only played 29 games this season.

In Rondo's 37 minutes in the playoffs, the Mavericks have been outscored by 36 points and are being outscored by 34 points per 100 possessions, according to the NBA's stats site.

Rondo looks completely out of sorts on the court. His inability to shoot clogs the Mavericks' spacing, and thus, their offense. Rondo has also had issues with Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, as the two got into an on-court spat in February over play-calling duties and then continued to fight in the locker room afterward. Rondo was suspended the next game.

In the first quarter of Tuesday night's loss to the Rockets, Rondo meandered up the court on offense, drawing an eight-second violation for not getting the ball across half-court. According to Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, there are some people who believe this was a deliberate protest of Carlisle calling plays from the sideline.

ESPN's Tim McMahon said Rondo didn't speak to reporters after Game 2, and when asked about Rondo's benching, Carlisle said, "All I know right now is that we need everybody at their competitive best."

Making matters worse for the Mavericks is what they gave up for Rondo. They lost starting point guard Jameer Nelson (who was a nice fit for the offense), backup wing Jae Crowder (who'd be the only Maverick capable of slowing down James Harden in the playoffs), backup center Brendan Wright, a 2015 first-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick.

According to Wojnarowski, Rondo is all but gone from Dallas this summer when he becomes a free agent, especially if Carlisle is still the coach. That would be a steep price for the Mavericks to pay for half-a-season rental who arguably made the team worse.

The Mavs wouldn't necessarily be any better with their original team, but they could have used those assets to find a better fit at point guard, especially when so many were available at this year's trade deadline.

The Mavericks could still make this a series — they have two games at home and could have players returning from injury — but it doesn't seem like Rondo will be the player that helps.



bob
MY NOTE:  Everybody's piling on now.  At this point, Rondo really is living up to his until now undeserved reputation as a "coach killer".

From another perspective, here's the deal with Dallas' first round pick that came with the deal:

Traded Rajon Rondo, Dwight Powell to Mavericks for Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, first round pick (protected top 3 and #15-30 in 2015, top 7 in 2016-20, else 2020 second round pick, 2021 second round pick) (?-?), 2016 second round pick (more favorable of Grizzlies, Mavericks picks) (?-?) on 2014-12-18


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The ESPN First Take guys were mentioning this morning that Rondo will lose millions of dollars with his performance/antics this season. Worn out his welcome in TWO cities in one season-ouch!

For such a smart guy, not many good things this season in your contract year.

Wonder if anyone will want him as a starter for next season this summer?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dallas-mavericks-went-rajon-rondo-142433245.html

Rondo out indefinitely with "back injury."

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/22/report-mavericks-rule-out-rajon-rondo-indefinitely-for-back-injury/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Must've got it from sitting on a hard bench.

He sat down really hard on that pind. Surprused he's not getting surgery to remove the splinters.

He sat down really hard on that pine. Surprised he's not getting surgery to remove the splinters.

Steve,

Nice line about the "hard bench."

Hope it's not serious.

Sam

Hey Worcester,

I call your avatar "unfair."  Who would want to argue with anyone who has a little angel like that in his life?

Sam

I'll be updating that photo soon. He's even cuter now.

P.s. Rondo is going to the Lakers. Count on it.

worcester wrote:P.s. Rondo is going to the Lakers. Count on it.

Hold on here Worcester how can you say Rondo is going to the Lakers when he clearly will end up with the........

Oh wait, wow your avatar is so cute...... Yes of course he will sign with the Lakers!

worcester wrote:P.s. Rondo is going to the Lakers. Count on it.

If he does, it will be for a very small salary.