Is Rajon Rondo The Best Point Guard For The Future Boston Celtics?

Dec 12, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (9) drives to the hoop against the New York Knicks during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Conclusion

For a team that is in the midst of a full-blown rebuild, Rajon Rondo is NOT the point guard I want to see running the offense.  A young team that struggles with consistency is not going to find any answers in Rondo as far as scoring goes, so when the young kids are off their games, the Celtics will be lucky to crack 90 points.  Rondo’s career scoring average is exactly 11 PPG right now, with a career high of 13.7 in 2009-2010 and 2012-2013 – not enough to be a viable second or third scoring option.

Meanwhile, Rondo is an old-school, pass-first point guard who will entertain the crowd with jaw-dropping dimes . . . but unless he is surrounded by talented players, he is not even close to an efficient point guard.  He’ll pound the rock to death, deliberately avoiding shooting the ball with the hopes that SOMEONE will get open – not exactly a key to success with a young, inexperienced squad.

I give Rondo tons of credit: he has become (as far as I can tell) a solid mentor for players such as Marcus Smart and James Young.   Even so, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Rondo is the sort of player who can lead a good squad to greatness, but should not be expected to lead an average team to such levels.  As much as my heart says, “Stay!,” my brain is telling me that it would better for both sides if Rondo was traded at some point this season.