2 realistic expectations for Cavs’ Rajon Rondo trade acquisition

It was gut-wrenching when Ricky Rubio went down in the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ loss at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, as at the time, it was apparent that Rubio seemingly suffered a serious injury. Then on Wednesday, it was confirmed that Rubio tore his left ACL, which was a significant blow for the Cavaliers, as Rubio was playing so well in a supersub-type role, for the most part.

The offseason trade acquisition from the Minnesota Timberwolves had 13.1 points and 6.6 assists per game thus far this season, and it’s uncertain if we’ll see him again playing for the Cavs. The 31-year-old Rubio is set to be expiring this offseason.

With the Rubio loss, and Collin Sexton having been out for the year as of early November, the Cavaliers needed help in the playmaking department.

From a reserve point guard perspective, the Cavs seemed likely to be making a move pretty soon following this Rubio injury, as Kevin Pangos is simply not ready for a regular reserve playmaking role. Maybe there is to Brandon Goodwin’s 10-day hardship exception signing, but that’s difficult to say at the moment.

With that said, while I’m not jumping out of my seat writing it, the Cavs ended up filling the backup point guard void, seemingly, as Cleveland reportedly acquired Rajon Rondo via trade from the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Once Rondo clears COVID-19 health and safety protocols, he’ll be able to join the team.

So with that being the case, what should we expect from this Rondo trade add for the Cavaliers?

Along those lines, we’ll hit on two realistic expectations for Rondo here with the Cavs.

The first is that he’ll still be a capable reserve playmaker, given the dude’s passing instincts and basketball IQ, but at the same time, lack of shooting/scoring.