Imagine Rajon Rondo as a Laker -- weird, right? (USATSI)
Remember when everybody freaked out about Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant having a meal together? Yes, you do because that was yesterday. Well, the Los Angeles Lakers have real interest in the Boston Celtics point guard, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
While there are no active talks between the two franchises involving a trade for Rondo, sources said the teams did have a brief discussion a few months ago.
It's not clear which team initiated the call.
Rondo will be a free agent this summer, and sources stressed that the Celtics would prefer to re-sign him.
Their willingness to engage in talks regarding Rondo is merely informational at this point, sources said.
However, the Lakers have long held interest in the point guard, who helped Boston defeat them in the 2008 NBA Finals as a rookie, and sources indicate he is high on their list of free-agent targets this summer.
Get this: The Lakers want to sign a star in free agency. Fancy that! They'll also surely chase Marc Gasol, Kevin Love and other big names because that's what they do. Just picturing Rondo wearing Lakers colors feels wrong, though, doesn't it?
The story goes on to say that the Celtics "likely would ask for at least one first-round draft pick" in exchange for Rondo. Given that the Lakers have a good chance of getting a top-five pick in this coming draft, there's an argument that Los Angeles would be better off keeping the pick and taking its chances in free agency. (LA also has Houston's first-round pick, but that won't be worth as much.)
There's also an argument that the Lakers should target players younger than Rondo, who will be 29 in February. He's not old, but Los Angeles is many steps away from contention and would remain many steps away even after acquiring Rondo. And if you're Rondo, the rebuilding Lakers probably won't be the best fit, either. He has great respect for Bryant, but after the superstar retires, his running mate would be ... who? Julius Randle? The whole point of Rondo potentially leaving Boston would be that he could get back to competing for championships. It's hard to believe the Lakers would give him his best shot.
Basketball Hot News
Kevin Durant remains on minutes restriction. Not that it will matter vs. Sixers.
The Philadelphia 76ers are playing their best basketball and with that are on the current longest winning streak of the season.
That Oklahoma City Thunder seem unconcerned.
Kevin Durant will remain on his minutes restriction of 30 in his second game back from foot surgery when the Thunder take on the 1-17 Sixers Friday night, reports Anthony Slater of the Oklahoman.
That shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, if he needs to play the full 30 I’d be more concerned. And the Thunder are right to not push too hard on the reigning MVP and the guy they need to be right for the long haul.
That said, Thunder need wins. Now. They need to go 44-20 the rest of the way to get to the 49 wins that was the playoff cutoff in the West last season (and it likely will be in that ballpark again this season). They can’t go out and not care against the Sixers, no matter how bad they are.
The Thunder enter a 10 game stretch now where they can make up ground facing teams such as lowly Philadelphia, as well as Detroit, Milwaukee (not a pushover), Minnesota, and the LA Lakers. There are some challenging games in that stretch — Cleveland, Golden State — and one game they should real circle on the calendar: Phoenix. That is the current eight seed and the team they need to catch in the Western Conference.
Like Durant said, they can’t look past anybody right now, they need to win about 70 percent of their games the rest of the way.
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