Despite missing 34 games this season, partially due to a suspension and partially due to multiple hand injuries, Rajon Rondo has made an impact on the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s averaging nearly eight assists per night, scoring the most points he has in three seasons, and has been pointed to as the glue that’s tenuously held the Lakers together through what’s been a particularly turbulent season.
Rondo signed a one-year, $9 million deal with the Lakers over the summer, the fourth straight one-year deal he’s done, and expressed interest in returning to the team after the Lakers knocked off the Charlotte Hornets, a game in which he gave out 17 assists, on Friday night.
“Absolutely,” Rondo told ESPN of coming back to the team next season. “I mean, the only way we can go from here is up. So, I don’t know what the future holds as far as the summer — if I come back, or who else comes back or if I don’t come back. Those things are out of my control. But at the same time, it’s a great organization. I can’t say enough about the staff and the people who work here. They’re really kind and helpful, so I want to continue, if I can, help this organization grow.”
There’s obviously value in keeping Rondo around to help nurture some of the Lakers younger players, though it remains to be seen how much of that youth will remain as the Lakers are expected to be aggressive in pursuit of another star this summer. But Rondo, who is on his fourth team in as many seasons, appears to have found a place he’d like to call home for the foreseeable future.
