Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo is going to meet with Gar Forman to discuss his situation with the team which could lead to him getting traded.
Rondo was benched during Chicago’s 116-96 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, and coach Fred Hoiberg elected to go with Michael Carter-Williams in his place. That decision came just one game after Rondo got benched for the entire second half against the Indiana Pacers.
“[General manager Gar Forman] and I will talk,” said the former Kentucky Wildcat to Nick Friedell of ESPN after the New Year’s Eve blowout. “We’re going to talk tonight and we’ll go from there.”
When asked if he would entertain a trade if his spot in the rotation continued this way, Rondo replied with a whole-hearted “absolutely,” and Hoiberg’s reasoning behind the lack of minutes is strictly basketball related.
“We’ll continue to evaluate it, see what direction we go,” said Hoiberg. “He was great over there on the bench, cheering for guys, and being professional. We’ll see how it plays out and we’ll evaluate it again before the next one.”
This season’s play is a significant drop-off from where he was with the Sacramento Kings last year. After averaging 11.9 points on 45.4 percent shooting and a league-leading 11.7 assists, Rondo’s now at 7.2 points and 7.1 assists, which is puzzling since this Bulls team is better than last year’s Kings.
Even with the help of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, Rondo can’t get it together on offense and is still not totally involved defensively. According to Synergy, opponents are shooting 47.1 percent when guarded by him, and that includes 77.5 percent on shots within six feet of the basket.
Hoiberg thought that health could be attributed to Rondo’s sub-par play, but the former All-Star denied that.
“[Hoiberg] told me that I’ve been looking slow the last five games,” said Rondo. “He asks me all the time, ‘Am I healthy?’ I responded, saying that I think this is the best I’ve ever felt this part of the season, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Should things not work out between both parties, the second season of Rondo’s contract is only guaranteed for $3 million, lessening the chances of a trade not being made because of financials.
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