LA Clippers: Pass or Pursue on 5 Point Guard Targets

The LA Clippers should (probably) pass on Rajon Rondo

The final entry is the only one that comes with a qualifier. After he opted out of his minimum contract, there were reports that the LA Clippers had interest in Rajon Rondo.

My qualifier here is in the amount of money Rondo wants. He opted out of a contract that was worth the minimum. That makes total sense; he can just re-sign for the minimum anyway, so he might as well see what else he can get in free agency.

The question is: how much more than the minimum does he want to sign for? Unless there’s a dramatic change in situations, you have to assume that, if he’s signing for the minimum, he goes back to the Lakers to try to defend the title.

So it’s likely, but not certain, that the Clips would have to give him more than the minimum. But Rondo’s not going to be a starting point guard – he played 20 minutes per game last season and averaged 7 points and 5 assists, so we’d be paying him money to be the backup.

Remember, though, that if the Clippers go into the tax, they’ve got less than $6 Million in Mid-level Exception to use. So here comes my qualifier. If it takes much more than the minimum to get him, I would pass on Rondo. That said, if he’ll join for the minimum? I would feel better about pursuing him.

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