Lakers Rumors: Whispers from Los Angeles on Rajon Rondo and More
The only things the Los Angeles Lakers' fans can do at this point is look forward to next season and enjoy Kobe Bryant in the twilight of his career.
Since fans are already looking ahead to next year, it is only natural that some rumors regarding Los Angeles have popped up in recent weeks. Interestingly, one of those is about new Dallas Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo and how close he was to potentially becoming a Laker.
Here is a look at the latest Lakers rumors on Rondo and more.
Rajon Rondo/Julius Randle
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports passed along the latest on Rondo and rookie Julius Randle: “The Lakers and Celtics had mutual interest for a Rajon Rondo deal, but the Lakers weren’t willing to give up injured rookie Julius Randle, a source said.”
There is a lot to decipher here, but the most important takeaway is that the Lakers clearly value Randle, injury or not. There is clearly a reason they took him with the No. 7 pick in this year's draft, but he only played in 14 minutes of one game this season before going down in devastating fashion with a broken leg.
Still, the team sees him as the power forward of the future if it wasn’t willing to give him up for a proven point guard like Rondo.
Randle was a walking double-double in college and has impressive instincts on the glass on both sides of the floor. Throw in his overall strength that helps him power his way to the basket on offense and his athleticism that helps him get out in the open floor, and the potential is there.
Randle is very strong around the paint and can even hit from mid-range. His finesse-power combination also helps him get to the free-throw line and guard power forwards or centers.
As for missing out on Rondo, Bryant seemed disappointed that his team couldn’t land the point guard, via Sam Amick of USA Today:
"Oh yeah. Of course. Of course. But all you can do is control what you can control. We did our part. We did what we could. ... It's not from a lack of effort. It's not from a lack of smarts, so I trust the process. It's hard going through this (expletive), but our management will figure it out."
Los Angeles management has gifted Bryant the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol throughout his career and will try to do its best over the summer to add key pieces to the roster with plenty of cap space. Ironically, Rondo will be a free agent this offseason.
Perhaps the Lakers can sign him and pair him up with Randle to get the best of both worlds.
Robert Sacre
Shams Charania of RealGM noted that the Cleveland Cavaliers had some interest in Lakers big man Robert Sacre:
It will be interesting to see if the Cavaliers pick up these talks again now that Anderson Varejao is out for the season. Tristan Thompson is a solid option down low, and Kevin Love is a superstar at power forward, but the Cavaliers need more depth in the paint.
Sacre has seen some playing time this season for the floundering Lakers and is averaging better than four points and 2.5 rebounds a game. He may not be the key piece to take the Cavaliers over the top in an Eastern Conference that features the Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors, but he is an extra body down low.
He could give Thompson and Love some much-needed rest down the stretch, which will keep their legs fresh for the playoffs.
That could actually help Cleveland in the long run.
Follow me on Twitter:
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
