Rajon Rondo remains a free agent heading into the middle of summer, but he has at least one team that is interested in his services. The New York Knicks, who are in the midst of another roster overhaul, have reportedly been in touch with Rondo regarding his services. The Chicago Bulls recently parted ways with the veteran point guard after just one season together.
Given the state of the Bulls in their current rebuild, keeping Rondo on board for the second season in his deal made no sense. Now that Rajon Rondo is free, he’s one of the few big-name free agents still available after the first few days of free agency in the NBA.
Right now, Rondo needs a landing spot for next season and a place to re-establish himself as a top point guard in the league after a rather rough year in Chicago. He did have a tremendous start to the series in the first round against the Boston Celtics before he got injured. Even with that, Rajon Rondo is still finding difficulty in landing a job in the league.
The Knicks as it is, are having trouble finding anyone (aside from Tim Hardaway Jr.) to take their money. They need players to fill out the roster next year, plus they will need an established point guard to potentially start next season if Frank Ntilikina isn’t ready to step up and go.
In the end, the Knicks are the perfect landing spot for Rondo, even if it’s on a one-year deal.
First and foremost, it would give the Knicks an actual point guard and one who could start on Opening Night for them. As we mentioned before, it’s not clear if the Knicks first round pick from this past year in Ntilikina will be ready to go, so by having Rondo there, it doesn’t force a young kid who isn’t even in his 20’s yet to play full-time and play at a level he’s never experienced before in France.
But with Rondo, he’d be the first legitimate point guard in their prime to play for them. Sure, they had Derrick Rose last year, but Rose is a shoot-first point guard who didn’t exactly fit in with the Knicks and making players around him better.
Rondo, on the other hand, is a true point guard who helps set up scoring opportunities for star players. This would be an advantage to someone like Kristaps Porzingis and his development. It could also help Carmelo Anthony, but it’s looking more and more like he could be traded before the end of the summer.
It also would give Rondo another opportunity to bring back his credibility in the league. Rondo was known as a bit of a head case and hard to deal with in Chicago. He was also tough to deal with when he was on the Dallas Mavericks as well. By giving him a one-year deal, he has to play well enough to try to get another team to want to pay him for next season. He did that when he led the league in assists for the Sacramento Kings two seasons ago. That lead to the Bulls giving him a two-year deal.
So if the Knicks give him just a one-year deal and he plays well like he did in Sacramento, it could lead to him getting another multi-year deal again.
On a one-year, prove-it deal, Rajon Rondo would be exactly what the Knicks need. And on the flip side, Rondo needs the Knicks as well.