Rajon Rondo, Mavericks, Reportedly Parted Ways; PG Did Not Get Playoff Share
The Dallas Mavericks' season ended Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets, but their marriage with point guard Rajon Rondo ended after he was benched for the final 23 minutes of Game 2.
The day after the benching—April 22—the point guard and team "made a mutual decision to part ways...framing the reasoning as a back injury as a favor to try to help the four-time All-Star point guard save face," according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
And not only did Rondo's tenure in Dallas end three games before the team's season did, but Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News also reported the former All-Star is not going to get a playoff share from the Mavericks:
Jared Dudley of the Milwaukee Bucks indicated he has never heard of a player not getting a playoff share from their team:
On April 22, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported Rondo was out "indefinitely" due to a back injury he suffered in Game 2. That raised eyebrows because after the game Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said, per Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated, that reporters "can ask [Rondo]" if he wanted to play down the stretch.
Rondo's departure from the Mavericks isn't a surprise. He struggled in 46 games after Dallas acquired him from the Boston Celtics, with his assist total going from 10.8 per game with the C's to 6.5 with the Mavericks.
The 29-year-old will become a free agent after the postseason ends, though he's not entering the summer with much leverage based on the way he's leaving Dallas and his declining performance.
