On Friday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers began to address the point guard position by reportedly signing veteran point guard Jerryd Bayless to a three-year, $27 million deal. Despite the Sixers signing Bayless, they are still in the market for another veteran point guard.
According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, the Sixers along with the Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and possibly the New Orleans Pelicans, all have interest in free agent point guard Rajon Rondo.
This season with the Kings, Rondo had a bounce back year after a tumultuous end to the 2014-15 season with the Dallas Mavericks. Rondo came into this season with a point to prove, trying to knock the stigma that surrounded him in Dallas for quitting on the team.
This season, Rondo averaged 11.9 points, 11.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds in 35.2 minutes per game. He also shot 45.4 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from three-point range. The 11.9 assists per game, tied a career-high for the all-star point guard, which he set in the 2011-12 season with the Boston Celtics.
It is not surprising that Rondo has this many suitors because the NBA is a point guard driven league and you need a formidable point guard if you want to make any noise in the association. For example, just look at the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. They have two of the best point guards in the game in Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry and look where it got them.
Out of the four teams that have interest in Rondo, the Bulls, Kings and Sixers all need a starting point guard.
Currently, the Bulls have second-year point guard Jerian Grant and veteran Jose Calderon, who they acquired in the Derrick Rose trade. While the Kings really are in the hole because they do not know what’s going to happen with point guard Darren Collison, who will be facing two misdemeanor domestic violence charges later this month.
Then you have the Sixers, who I mentioned earlier, signed Bayless, but still need that pure point guard to help take them to that next level and continue the development of their big men.
Keep this in mind, out of the four teams who are interested in Rondo, the Bulls are the only team who have met with him according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
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