National Basketball Association

Report: Rajon Rondo wants 'all of' Kings' $10M cap space

Published Jul. 1, 2015 2:59 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Ben Watanabe

With a coach and owner reportedly feuding over whether they should trade their star player — just two years after the franchise came close to shipping out of town — the Sacramento Kings are kind of a mess right now. That hasn’t scared off Rajon Rondo, though.

Rondo is reportedly interested in signed with the Kings as a free agent, and the former All-Star point guard apparently believes his value is still high. The 29-year-old unrestricted free agent wants $10 million, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, which accounts for “all of” the Kings’ available cap space.

This number would be a pay cut for Rondo, who received $12.9 million last season in the final year of the five-year extension he signed with the Boston Celtics in 2009. But demand for Rondo has cooled since a midseason trade to the Dallas Mavericks, where he clashed with coach Rick Carlisle. Worse, he also played poorly.

Perhaps Rondo and the Kings are a match made in heaven, however. Owner Vivek Ranadive is reportedly investigating whether he can fireGeorge Karl, who was just hired as Sacramento’s coach in February, over the latter’s alleged desire to trade star center DeMarcus Cousins. If there’s any place Rondo, a mercurial type who has thrived amid controversy when he hasn’t created it himself, would fit in, it would appear to be Sacramento at the moment.

This isn’t the first time Rondo and the Kings have been connected. The Celtics and Kings are believed to have talked about a possible trade at the deadline two seasons ago, but reports last summer indicated Rondo would not sign an extension in Sacramento. Now, it appears Rondo’s opinion — or simply his bargaining position — has changed.

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