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- Rondo’s skill set translates well in the NBA (Photo: NESN)
Just four years ago, Rajon Rondo fell all the way to the No. 21 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, which by all accounts was one of the most painfully thin drafts in recent years in terms of talent.
If you’re like me, that realization leads to two immediate reactions:
1) What were NBA general managers thinking?
2) How in the world did it happen? How was Rondo drafted behind the likes of Shelden Williams, Patrick O’Bryant, Saer Sene, Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons, Rodney Carney, Shawne Williams, Oleksiy Pecherov, Quincy Douby and Renaldo Balkman?
The answer: general managers were scared to pull the trigger on a point guard who came with the label “non-shooter.”
In his two years at Kentucky, Rondo displayed tremendous quickness and athleticism. He proved to be able to penetrate the lanes, get to the rim with ease and wear out a path to the charity stripe. But all the positives to his game were overshadowed by one thing – his inability to shoot.
General managers feared that defenses could just sag off Rondo and force the young guard to beat them with deep jump shots and contested passes.
The Phoenix Suns selected Rondo at No. 21 then dealt him on draft day to Boston.
After a so-so rookie campaign in 2006-07, Rondo blossomed as a second-year pro due in large part to the foresight of Boston GM Danny Ainge. Ainge wisely orchestrated offseason deals for future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and managed to do so without giving up Rondo. In the trade for Allen, Ainge convinced Seattle to take Delonte West instead, which in hindsight was either a stroke of genius or extremely lucky.
When Rondo entered his second NBA season surrounded with the Big 3 – Paul Pierce, Garnett and Allen – the entire basketball world saw first-hand how the young point guard could use his play making skills to help turn the Celtics into a champion. When Rondo didn’t have to force up shots and could focus on distributing the ball and playing tough defense, he excelled.
And in the playoffs, he stepped up his game. At only 21 years old, Rondo averaged 10.2 points, 6.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 26 playoff games during the Celtics’ championship run.
Could the C’s have won the title with another point guard in 2008? Perhaps. But Rondo’s contribution was significant nonetheless. The secret was out; the Celtics had found their point guard of the future, and he was there to stay.
Though shorter in stature, Rondo (6-foot-1, 171 pounds) is reminiscent of a young Gary Payton (6-4, 180).
Payton, the No. 2 pick in the 1990 NBA Draft behind Derrick Coleman, entered the league with a reputation as a tough defender and a slasher who could distribute the basketball. And he proved to be just that. But when Payton was a 22-year-old rookie, many people forget that his knuckleball jump shot almost ran him out of Seattle.
Payton was many things, but he wasn’t a perimeter shooter. In fact, here are the amount of 3-pointers he made in each of his first four NBA seasons: 1, 3, 7 and 15.
It wasn’t until his fifth pro season, at the age of 26, that Payton became a perimeter shooter. That season, he made 70 3-pointers. By the age of 31, his 10th season, Payton led the NBA in 3-pointers made with 170.
Rondo, in contrast, has made 43 3-pointers in his first four pro seasons, 17 coming this year at the age of 24.
While comparing Rondo to Payton, one of the top 10 point guards in NBA history, might seem like a bit of a stretch, consider that Rondo was two years younger when he started his pro career and is already outproducing what the Seattle SuperSonics legend did statistically at the same age.
And come playoff time, Rondo has a knack for taking his game to new heights. In seven postseason games this year, he is averaging 16.3 points, 11.7 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game – mind-boggling numbers, to be sure.
Have NBA general managers learned a lesson or two about passing up on a player with Rondo’s skill set? Signs point to yes.
Fast-forward to 2010, and another wiry point guard from Kentucky is entering the NBA Draft. His name is one you might have already heard of… John Wall.
Often compared to a young Rondo on the court, Wall is the consensus No. 1 pick.
