There were a lot of questions surrounding Rajon Rondo heading into the 2015-16 NBA season, but the former All-Star is slowly getting his old form back. Enough to make league executives believe that he could get a maximum deal in the offseason.
Rondo had a tumultuous year with the Dallas Mavericks last season after he was traded from the Boston Celtics. But after a rocky season in Dallas, Rondo is turning heads again this year. The 29-year-old point guard is averaging 12.9 points and 10.7 assists on top of 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game this season.
The former Kentucky standout, who is playing in his tenth year in the league, is playing like the Rajon Rondo who made waves with his impressive play before sustaining a torn ACL in his right knee in January 2013. One league executive told Sporting News that Rondo could eventually get a maximum contract in the summer.
"It would not surprise me at all if he winds up with a max deal next summer," the league executive said. "Maybe not for five years, but a three-year deal or something like that. But if he stays healthy, I would expect the money to be around max. But let's see how the year goes."
An Eastern Conference team general manager agreed and said that Rondo will eventually get a lucrative deal in the offseason -- either a max deal or within that range -- if he continues to play well without sustaining another major injury this season.
"There is going to be a lot of money on the market and only a handful of players who you would really say are max guys," the GM said. "If Rajon were to keep playing the way he's been playing, if he is not getting the max next year, it'll be close."
Rondo signed a one-year deal worth $9.5 million last summer, which means that he will become an unrestricted free agent after the season. It remains to be seen whether or not Sacramento will be willing to offer a maximum contract next season, but Kings superstar DeMarcus Cousins told Yahoo Sports that he wants Rondo to stay.
"He ain't going nowhere. I will kidnap him myself," said Cousins, who added that he is meshing well with the four-time All-Star. "The way we compete and the type of competitors we are, it's hard for us not to get along. We think alike all the time. I'm soaking in all I can. He's a champion. I basically look up to him."
