National Basketball Association

Rajon Rondo Has Been as Advertised for Bulls This Season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The signing of Rajon Rondo made no sense for the Chicago Bulls this season. After the whole “younger and more athletic” moniker from Gar Forman became a notable quote, the signing continues to not make sense as the season goes on.

During a recent question-and-answer mailbag for the Chicago Bulls’ official team website, long-time columnist Sam Smith called Rajon Rondo an “excellent addition” for the Bulls this season.

Not only is calling Rondo that wrong, it doesn’t make sense when you actually look at the numbers and watch him play for the Bulls in the first few weeks of this season.

Let’s just put it this way: There’s plenty of reasons why Rajon Rondo has the second-worst defensive rating (107.5) and the third-worst net rating (-0.2) on the Bulls roster.

In this breakdown, we’ll discuss a few different topics as to why Rondo’s performance has been so poor in the early going for the Bulls.

It’s not a newsflash: Rajon Rondo can’t shoot

When you look at Rondo’s shot chart for the season so far, it reminds you of a Bulls jersey itself. Outside of the free-throw line area where he’s decent, and for some reason, the right corner of the floor from deep, Rondo is a horrific shooter.

(Note: This shot chart was before Saturday’s game against the Wizards.)

When you factor in the game on Saturday night, Rondo has taken 91 shot attempts in 10 games for the Bulls this season. He’s making 34.1 percent of them. That’s terrible.

Now, before you say, “He wasn’t brought in to score”, what was he brought in by the Bulls to do? It’s pretty clear that in today’s NBA, you need a point guard that can put the ball in the basket consistently. Just ask the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers.

It’s not even just that Rondo can’t shoot. His shooting is way below the league average (55.8 percent) around the rim in 41 attempts (46.3 percent).

According to Basketball-Reference.com (before his 0-for-6 shooting performance on Saturday night), 34.1 percent of Rondo’s total shot attempts were coming inside of 0-3 feet. If you’re below the league average around the basket and over a third of your shots are coming in that area, that’s a problem.

As for the 3-point shooting, well … there’s really not much to say.

Rondo is overrated as a passer

Sure, Rondo is averaging 6.5 assists per game. Yeah, only six guys have more total assists this season than Rondo’s 65. And, of course Rondo’s assist percentage is 30.2; the clear-cut highest percentage on the Bulls roster.

However, Rondo’s turnover percentage is 20.3 percent this season.

To put that in perspective: Derrick Rose — who wasn’t good at all for the Bulls last season — had a turnover percentage of 13.4 in his final season in Chicago.

Rondo is labeled by many as a “stat-padder”, or an “assist hunter” if you will. When you watch him play, that appears to be all you see with him.

When the Bulls signed Rondo this past July, The Athletic Chicago‘s Stephen Noh noted that same thing when it came to the veteran point guard.

“Rondo racks up assists because he sacrifices scoring opportunities to pad his stats,” Noh wrote. “He is afraid of getting to the line, so he’ll often just dribble around until he can find an assist opportunity rather than take the correct shot.”

This isn’t wrong.

This eventual 3-second call on Taj Gibson came from the Bulls’ Opening Night victory over the Boston Celtics. After Jimmy Butler strips Isaiah Thomas, Rondo gets not one, but two chances to score. He passes on both, and it resulted in a turnover for the Bulls.

After the possession, TNT color commentator Mike Fratello said, “Well, Rondo wants the assist so badly, he’s passing up opportunities to score himself. He’s there at the rim and passes backwards. They get nothing out of it.”

Rondo tries on defense when he wants to

Former NFL great (and professional fish-catcher) Randy Moss once said, “I’m gon’ play when I wanna play.”

That’s the case for Rajon Rondo, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

There was a time where Rondo was one of the league’s best defenders from 2009-12, when he made the first or second All-Defensive teams. But, those days have passed for the 30-year-old.

He can still make good plays on that end of the floor.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, those come when he wants to try and make those plays, which doesn’t happen as often as it used to.

A noticeable trend in recent games has been teams attacking Rondo in pick-and-roll sets due to the fact that Rondo has just been bad getting around screens and it’s led to defensive breakdowns everywhere.

“The film session (from the Hawks loss on Wednesday) was much needed. It motivated me,” Rondo said, via Chicago Tribune Bulls beat reporter K.C. Johnson in a piece on Friday. “I knew I had to bring some defensive energy to our team (against the Heat). It starts with the point guard as far as the pickup point.”

“It’s constructive criticism. It’s what we needed. I’ve always told the guys that if I have to be called out on film, then use me. They took my word for it.”

Rondo followed these quotes with a scoreless performance on Saturday night against a Washington Wizards team missing their entire starting back court.

Rondo said excellent things, but he’s not doing them.

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