The LA Clippers trading for Rajon Rondo wasn’t the most popular move among fans of the team, but it could be a sneaky good move for Terance Mann. Especially off the court, Rondo could help Mann’s development come along.
On Thursday, the day of the deadline, Jackie MacMullan went on the Bill Simmons podcast to talk with Bill and Ryen Russillo. The topic of Rajon Rondo and his trade to the LA Clippers came up, and Jackie was pretty effusive in her praise of the deal for the Clips. She dropped two especially interesting quotes:
"“Rondo was playing with Chicago, and you know what he did on his off day? He was going to their g-league affiliate and watching the young players, and staying after the game and talking to them and giving them pointers.”"
On the subject of Rondo’s work ethic and relationship with his teammates, she had this to say:
"“The minute the game ended, they’re on the plane. He’s got his laptop open, he’s going over plays, and if a young player went by, he goes “you want me to show you this?” Not like, “hey get over here kid, get over here rookie.” “Can I show you this?” And, you know, you can walk by or you can sit down next to him and learn something.”"
Rajon Rondo might have a positive impact on the development of the LA Clippers’ young guys, especially Terance Mann.
These quotes paint a very optimistic picture of Rondo on the LA Clippers, and you can hear more of her comments around the 35 minute mark of this podcast.
Hearing these comments, my first thought was: “Is Rajon Rondo the perfect guy for Terance Mann to learn from?” The playmaking obviously has a very long way to go, but in a perfect world, Mann could play a similar role for the LA Clippers that Rondo has throughout his career.
Look at the similarities between Terance Mann this season and a younger Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo 2014-15 season, per 36: 10.8 points, 9.6 assists, 6.7 rebounds, 42.6% field goal percentage, 31.4%% three point percentage.
Terance Mann 2020-21 season, per 36: 11.7 points, 2.7 assists, 7.9 rebounds, 47.8% field goal percentage, 36.2% three point percentage.
I’m not calling it an exact one-to-one comparison – Rajon Rondo sees the floor in a way that very few players in the league can. But the archetype of Rajon Rondo is a guard who struggles shooting but finds a way to rebound at a high level, make plays, attack the rim and be a pesky defender while always playing with high energy.
Doesn’t that sound a little bit like Terance Mann’s play on the LA Clippers? Obviously we’re hoping his jumpshot comes around, but right now his contributions come from rebounding, cutting and being, at least, a high energy defender.
If you told me to pick one player to teach someone to be that sort of player at the highest level, I think I’d probably pick Rajon Rondo. Now, I want to be clear, I’m not expecting that Terance Mann is suddenly going to be averaging 11 assists a game.
But it does sound like, if he’s willing to, Rondo will be more than willing to give him advice and tips on his game. We know that Mann’s been learning from Bev, and he’s carried a Rondo card around with him since middle school, so I’d expect him to be very excited to learn from Rondo.
Another aspect that Rondo can help Mann learn about is coexisting with superstars. On the Celtics, Rajon Rondo had to find ways to contribute alongside Garnett, Pierce and Allen. On the LA Clippers, Mann’s in a similar situation with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. That can’t be easy, but Rondo’s navigated it and won a title.
While we’re still not sure quite how Rajon Rondo is going to contribute on the floor to the LA Clippers, I’m excited for the potential of Terance Mann learning from him off the court.