It sure does look like Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo will not be back in California’s capital city after testing the free-agent waters this summer.
Rondo sounded off on the dysfunction that we all saw during the Kings’ disappointing 2015-16 campaign. Needless to say, it doesn’t bode well for Sacramento’s hopes of retaining the top-flight point guard.
“There were too many distractions on and off the court. The organization as a whole, I don’t think was together completely,” Rondo said, via ESPN. “I think as a team you have to want the best for the next man beside you, and that wasn’t the case with the Sacramento Kings.”
More so than the Kings struggling through a 33-win campaign, drama defined the downtrodden franchise this past season.
The most public issue was a rift between the recently fired George Karl and All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins. After hearing multiple reports surface that Karl would be fired, other reports came out suggesting that the Kings were looking to potentially trade Cousins.
In the less than two years that Karl manned the bench in Sacramento, this rift seem to grow to new levels. There were even suggestions prior to the start of the 2015-16 season that Karl tried to turn Cousins’ teammates against him in what amounted to as nothing less than an internal coup within the locker room.
When asked about the tension within the organization, Rondo had this to say.
“Too much tension. I’ve never witnessed or experienced a thing like that in my 10-year career.”
Considering Rondo himself has been a central player in many feuds since entering the NBA, that’s a pretty damning comment right there. When someone of his ilk speaks out on this, you surely must listen to what he’s saying.
While the Kings struggled to stay competitive in a difficult Western Conference, Rondo himself had a tremendous rebound season.
He averaged 11.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 11.7 assists, re-energizing his free-agent stock in the process.
All this seems to be an indication that Rondo will exit Sacramento during free agency this summer.