Lakers trading Rajon Rondo a step toward fixing offseason mistakes, salvaging season amid disappointing start

The Lakers are ready to try anything

The Los Angeles Lakers love Rajon Rondo. This really can't be overstated. LeBron James frequently monologues about his brilliance. He's often been used as a security blanket for Anthony Davis when James sits out as the lone Laker guard over the past three seasons to develop meaningful lob chemistry with him. Head coach Frank Vogel left him in the rotation throughout the entire 2019-20 season despite every shred of statistical evidence telling him otherwise because, as he frequently claimed, Rondo had "swag." James, Davis and Vogel all personally recruited Rondo back to the Lakers this offseason despite already having an overwhelmingly guard-heavy roster. Regardless of his (increasingly limited) value as a player, what can't be denied is that the Lakers genuinely valued Rondo's intellect and influence in their locker room.

Despite all that, Rondo is reportedly being traded, essentially for Stanley Johnson. No, those aren't technically the terms of the trade. Technically, Rondo is getting dealt for the partially-guaranteed contract of Denzel Valentine, who will reportedly be waived. But the Lakers needed to clear a roster spot for Johnson due to their desperate need for forward help and his promising three-game stint in Los Angeles thus far, and making this trade allows them to open a permanent roster spot for him without having to pay Rondo (or the exorbitant tax payments that came with him). The Lakers may try to delay giving him a full-season contract by playing the 10-day game a bit longer, but it certainly appears as though they've decided that they'd simply rather have Stanley Johnson on their team than Rajon Rondo.

This isn't an especially surprising decision in the context of the season. Rondo had largely fallen out of the rotation before COVID-19, and Johnson has looked quite good at a position of weakness in his first three games as a Laker. It's significantly more notable from the 10,000 foot view. The Lakers made a conscious decision to emphasize prior accomplishments in their offseason moves. They opened the season with seven former All-Stars on the roster, and an eighth in Isaiah Thomas was the first player they signed with a hardship exemption. This isn't a new phenomenon either. The 2018-19 roster was filled with famous flameouts. The Lakers started their 2020 title defense by dumping one Hall of Famer (Dwight Howard) for another (Marc Gasol), and only months later, they dumped that Hall of Fame for a former All-Star (Andre Drummond).