Winners and losers from Cavs trade for Rajon Rondo
Losers of the Cavs trade for Rajon Rondo
It probably doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice who wasn’t on the list of winners above. Who lost out on the deal? Unfortunately, it starts with the most important entity in the trade.
Cleveland Cavaliers – As mentioned before, this was basically a free deal to add a four-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion. Why are the Cavs losers? Simply put, Rajon Rondo is no longer good at basketball. He maintains this reputation as a useful player, but the reality is that he has been bad. EPM puts him in the bottom 10 percent of all players this year, while Cleaning the Glass has him in the bottom 5 percent.
In fact, it’s the 10th-straight season he has been a net negative on his team’s fortunes dating back to his time in Boston. There have been stretches of solid play, but they have been wrapped in mediocrity, poor shooting and surprisingly high turnover numbers. Rajon Rondo is not a good basketball player. The Cavs don’t need much, and it’s possible he buys in and does enough to help the Cavs, but backup point guard remains a problem even after the deal.
Denzel Valentine – Just two days ago we wrote here that Denzel Valentine might have saved his season after a strong performance against the Toronto Raptors. Alas, then Ricky Rubio went down and the team’s priorities changed. It was possible Valentine saw more of a role with Rubio out, but now he will be waived by the Lakers. He should catch on with another team for a hardship contract or two, but his career overall is on life support.
Kevin Pangos and RJ Nembhard – Adding Rondo means the Cavs were not prepared to hand the keys to Kevin Pangos and RJ Nembhard. Pangos will likely stick around as a third-string point guard, especially given Rondo’s injury history. Yet Rondo will eat up the minutes behind Garland, once again relegating both players to the bench or to Canton.
Media Teams – One of the favorite graphics or stats for media teams to throw up on-screen are the sheer number of former All-Stars on the Los Angeles Lakers. Losing Rondo means all of those have to be adjusted, and the numbers are not quite as ridiculously amusing. Sorry, everyone.
Next. Year in Review: 5 key moments that changed the Cavs in 2021. dark
In the end, this was a low (really “no”) cost move that theoretically addresses a weakness but also doesn’t preclude the team from making a bigger splash closer to the trade deadline. There is a chance Rondo reaches deep for something helpful, but more likely this is a short-term deal that doesn’t go as well as the Cavs hope.