Lakers Rumors: Gossip and Fallout from Missing out on Rajon Rondo

An absolute blockbuster deal that sent point guard Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks swept the nation Thursday evening. The Los Angeles Lakers were known to be a very interested party in the guard, but they were unable to acquire his services—for this season, anyway.

For now, the Lakers will see the guard in this uniform, via the Mavericks' official Twitter account:

So, here's what many Lakers fans are asking following the trade: How close was Los Angeles to getting a deal done with the Boston Celtics? What were the Lakers offering? Is there any chance of bringing him aboard in the future?

Those are all legitimate inquiries, and based on recent rumors circulating around the Web, we have our answers.

The Lakers proposed two separate trade offers to Boston for Rondo; however, they didn't exactly want to give up enough to secure the guard for the 2014-15 season. Sam Amick of USA Today penned the first Los Angles offer to the Celtics:

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The Lakers inquired about a deal Thursday that would send forward Jordan Hill and a first-round pick to the Celtics for Rondo and forward Jeff Green, but the Celtics declined that offer, a person familiar with the details told USA Today Sports.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the private nature of trade talks.

"

That doesn't seem like a terrible deal for either side. After all, Green has been a frequent topic of trade discussions this season, and Los Angeles could certainly use his shooting ability on the wing. Meanwhile, Hill has been one of the few bright spots for the Lakers this season, averaging 12.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor.

A first-round pick for Rondo keeps things even, right? Nope. In fact, the pick Los Angeles was offering is what held up the deal, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne:

That's probably the exact same reason why Boston declined the Lakers' other offer, via Shelburne:

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Lakers offer for Rondo was Nash & multiple picks. They have Houston's first in 2015 from Lin trade

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 18, 2014"

While those deals didn't pan out, the rumors continued to roll in regarding other ways the Lakers could have been involved in a deal for Rondo.

One such rumor was that of a three-way deal that would have resulted in the guard landing somewhere other than Dallas. This trade would have involved former Lakers coach Phil Jackson, as the third team involved was rumored to be the New York Knicks.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweeted the details:

It's unclear as to if the guard's final destination in that scenario would have been Los Angeles, but Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated elaborated on the Lakers' future and why they may have wanted to hold out on such a deal:

That makes plenty of sense considering Rondo is on the last year of his current five-year, $55 million deal that will pay him a total of $12.9 million this season, according to Spotrac.com. Obviously, the Mavericks will get a chance to work on a contract extension with the guard, but if they can't work something out, he'll become a free agent after the season.

According to Mannix, that is what the Lakers are waiting for:

That may be the wise move for the future of this team. After all, Los Angeles is currently 8-17 on the season, and even if it did acquire Rondo's services, it has a steep hill to climb to get into postseason contention. The Lakers are better off biding their time with Jeremy Lin and Co. and revisiting this situation after the season when every team's record is reset to 0-0.

The thought of having arguably the NBA's best facilitator in Los Angeles would make any Lakers fan salivate; however, this team doesn't need to be in any kind of a hurry to build around what it has on the court this season. Waiting until the summer to take a look at Rondo may turn out to be the smart decision after all.