What to make of expected Cavs Rajon Rondo trade acquisition

It was a tough blow for the Cleveland Cavaliers when results came back on Wednesday that Ricky Rubio, who has been such a significant contributor and leadership presence in a supersub-type role, tore his ACL. That was the one in his left knee, which was the one he tore back in 2012.

In mostly a bench role, Rubio had 13.1 points, 6.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds per outing, and he clearly was an invaluable player for the Cavaliers in his minutes on the floor, and has seemingly had a big impact on Darius Garland, who’s had an All-Star-caliber campaign.

Nonetheless, following this news on Rubio, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason, the Cavaliers seemed likely to be active in filling that void. Garland is currently in COVID-19 health and safety protocols as well, for context.

Along those lines, one would imagine Kris Dunn or Jeff Teague via the NBA’s current 10-day hardship exception, and then maybe via rest-of-season deal, could be a move to do so. Perhaps the Disabled Player Exception could be an alternative route, via trade, maybe, if that were to be granted, as KJG’s Josh Cornelissen pointed out.

That said, per a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium on Thursday, it appears the Los Angeles Lakers’ Rajon Rondo could be donning the Wine and Gold, via trade. Both of the clubs are reportedly in “serious talks” on a deal centered on Rondo being dealt to Cleveland, per Charania.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported how the two sides are expected to reach an agreement “as soon as Friday,” and Rondo can join Cleveland following when he clears COVID-19 health and safety protocols, of which he’s currently in.

Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and Right Down Euclid mentioned how the Cavaliers could send out their JaVale McGee trade exception, or maybe a second-round pick in exchange for Rondo, for potential signing purposes for L.A.

For Cleveland to open up a spot for Rondo, I’d imagine the partially-guaranteed Denzel Valentine could be dealt to L.A., who could waive him promptly, or he or someone else could be waived in a corresponding move.

The point is, Rondo shouldn’t cost much for Cleveland; he’s played in 18 games this season, with averages of 3.1 points and 3.7 assists in 16.1 minutes per appearance.

So what’s to make of this expected trade acquisition, from a Cavaliers’ standpoint?

This would be another capable reserve playmaker for the Cavs, and would provide another veteran mentor for Garland.

When it comes to Rondo, he’s not the playmaker he once was as a driving presence clearly, nor the transition player, but he’s still a cerebral player with great passing timing and vision, and playing with the Lakers of late, when he has been a regular contributor, he appeared with two bigs a fair amount.

With guys such as Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love well in the fold, I’d expect in some reserve minutes for Rondo that he’ll get them plenty of productive touches, and he’s more than capable of making skip passes to shooters.

After all, Rondo is a three-time assist champ, and in recent seasons, even while bouncing around/having spiratic minutes with the Atlanta Hawks and then LA Clippers last season, has been a productive ball-mover when the opportunities have arisen. That was the case with L.A. in the bubble championship run and the year prior, too.

Now, will Rondo be playing nearly the role of Rubio off the bench? No, as he’s not much of a pull-up presence, nor is Rondo going to have the willingness Rubio demonstrated to take triples, which was at least shown with the Cavs this season. That’s especially with them seemingly giving him more of a green light, particularly with Collin Sexton out for the season as of early last month.

As we expressed, though, Rondo won’t be costing Cleveland much, and sans Rubio, he can fill in a bit as a spot starter I’d think, provided he clears protocols, and is still a gifted playmaker that can help guys get in the right spots.

Defensively, in reserve minutes, Rondo is hardly the defender he once was, but the communication element is there.

And the four-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and Lakers should provide, if the buy-in is there, of course, a meaningful veteran presence that’s been there and done that throughout his career. He’s had so much postseason experience, that being 134 games, for what it’s worth.

He did help out the Clippers some last season, so maybe that’s the case again for Cleveland for the rest of the season, if the expected deal does hold involving Rondo, who is on a veteran minimum deal for $2.6 million.

Lastly, perhaps as the trade deadline heads closer, Cleveland moves the Rubio deal as part of a more significant trade, and we’ll see involving him and Rondo from there.