As Rajon Rondo joins the New Orleans Pelicans, his fifth team in four seasons, it can seem even to an avid NBA watcher that Rondo is nearing the end of his career — since he’s been around forever. But this perception is mostly due to the extraordinary start the mercurial, hugely talented guard got off to upon arrival in the NBA: Rondo was in his second year in the league when he helped lead the Big 3 Boston Celtics (Garnett, Allen, Pierce) to the 2008 NBA title. Rondo has tantalized GMs around the NBA since — his rebounding, court vision and scoring ability are off the charts, despite a relatively unreliable jump shot.
But the real issue with Rondo is the prevalent idea that Rondo himself — not just his jumper — is unreliable. Teams keep taking chances on him because the upside of a motivated Rondo is huge. Now the Pelicans are the latest to engage Rondo who, despite his recent NBA franchise tour, is just 31 years old. For perspective, the perpetually youthful seeming Stephen Curry is 29, almost exactly two years younger than Rondo. And strikingly, Rondo is younger than Chris Paul, 32, and LeBron James, also 32. In other words, the super-talented Rondo’s got a lot of game left in him if he finds his groove.
