Cavs’ Rajon Rondo praises Darius Garland, who can learn from vet

I’m not going to suggest that recent trade acquistion Rajon Rondo can replace what Ricky Rubio brought for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as Rondo is not nearly the scoring presence that Rubio was for Cleveland, primary as a supersub this season.

Rubio was still streaky for the Cavaliers, but whether or not he seemingly had more of a green light than at other times in his career before going down for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL, he did tie a career-high with 13.1 points per game. Rubio had his share of big games, mostly off the bench, and make no mistake, his versatile passing abilities often made a difference, too, leading to 6.6 assists per outing, and he lessened the burden on Darius Garland.

That said, while I’d imagine Cleveland could look to make a move for a 2 or key ball handler by the Feb. 10 trade deadline, particularly with Isaac Okoro out for a few weeks due to an elbow sprain, Rondo can still aid Cleveland’s bench.

Rondo is not the player he once was earlier on with the Boston Celtics, but he’s still had notable value when regularly in rotations in recent seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers (not this season really), and did help out the LA Clippers in the postseason last year. So to some extent, I do still think with a more legit opportunity to contribute this season with Cleveland with Rubio and to some degree, Collin Sexton out, Rondo should help Garland out as a playmaking presence, and other guys.

Rondo has always been such an instinctive passer, and even with him bouncing around in recent years, he has still had 9.2 assists per-36 minutes in his last four seasons. And even in playing with LeBron James and Russell Westbrook this season with the Lakers, did have 3.7 assists in 16.1 minutes per outing; I obviously acknowledge he’s not much of a scorer at this juncture, though.

In any case, a big question regarding Rondo is the buy-in from him. That’s not always been there, and the dude is a strong personality, but with these Cavs and a real role seeming in-store for him the rest of this season maybe, that appears to be there for now. Rondo seems to be looking forward to this chance with the Cavaliers, and reportedly did essentially sign off on a move to Cleveland, so the buy-in looks to be there, albeit early.

And in that realm, I thought it was cool to see how Rondo is really high on Garland, who could potentially make the All-Star team this season. Here is what the veteran, who recently cleared COVID-19 health and safety protocols, reportedly had to say about the Cavaliers youngster, via Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and Right Down Euclid.

This was big-time praise from Rondo for Garland, who can learn from the veteran leader.

It was good to see that Rondo, who has made four All-Star appearances, made four All-Defensive Teams, led the league in assists three times and has won two titles, thought that way about Garland.

Of course, Rondo is a ways removed from those All-Star days with the Celtics, but he’s still 14th in NBA history in assists and has had a ton of success in this league, so it was nice to see him give Garland his flowers. DG has had 19.7 points and 7.4 assists per game and looks to be a budding star, and is one of the big reasons for the Cavaliers’ resurgence this season.

It was good to see that Garland also reportedly reached out to Rondo shortly after he was traded to the Cavs, per Dammarell, as similarly to what played out when Rubio was acquired this offseason, Garland looks to be excited to learn from Rondo, too. That was reportedly the same way with Matthew Dellavedova when he Garland was teammates with him in recent seasons as well, to go with Collin Sexton, in that regard with Delly.

Garland I’d imagine Garland can definitely take plenty from learning more under the tutelage of Rondo, provided the buy-in is there for the veteran, and with the current outlook, I do believe it will be.

The Cavs can benefit from Rondo’s passing feel and IQ in bench stretches, which will still come for Rondo, even in Year 16 and at 35, and with him turning 36 in February. He’s still an outstanding passer, and had plenty of run in recent seasons playing with two bigs with the Lakers when he was regularly involved in games.

Anyway, as we hit on, that Rondo praise for Garland was telling, given the success he’s had over the course of his career, and it was encouraging that as Dammarell’s report stated, Garland was the first guy to reach out to Rondo after the deal.

Hopefully DG, who made his return in a close loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday from health and safety protocols, can pick Rondo’s brain a bunch from here and as the season wears on. That’s in relation to the leadership element as well, clearly.