Through all the hoopla and distractions surrounding the Kings and head coach George Karl, it seems he is off to a solid start with his new point guard.
"Our conversations [have indicated] that he’s a basketball IQ guy who is going to challenge us as coaches because I think he knows the game," Karl said of Rondo. "He might have some opinions that we’ll have give and take on. He’s an All-Star player. He’s a triple-double machine when he’s playing well. He likes to lead teams. He leads teams with a spirit that has a toughness to it.”
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Typically the offseason is when everyone’s getting along (although the Karl-DeMarcus Cousins fiasco would run contrary to this point), and this would be an example of that.
It’ll be interesting to see if Karl is able to deal with Rondo’s antics, and if Rondo is finally ready to start listening to his coaches, but this isn’t the first offseason in which we’ve read positive reports on Rondo. Unfortunately for No. 9, his messy departure with the Mavericks is not something that we can ignore, and it’s very possible that at some point during the regular-season he finds himself in Karl’s doghouse.
With Darren Collison on the roster, Karl will have the ability to bench Rondo for extended stretches, and honestly Rondo just hasn’t been the same player since his ACL injury.
Despite this positive dialogue, Rondo won’t be worth much more than a late-round flier on draft day.
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