Sacramento Kings point guard Rajon Rondo. (Photo : Getty Images)
There is reportedly an internal strife going on in the Sacramento Kings' locker room right now involving franchise player DeMarcus Cousins and head coach George Karl and its management is speculated to possibly push the reset button sometime in the midseason if things get out of hand.
One of the players who could possibly be moved is newcomer Rajon Rondo, although the NBA champion point guard can only be traded after the December 14 deadline for free agents who have recently signed their contracts.
Sacramento signed Rondo last July 13 after he was waived by the Dallas Mavericks during the offseason. Rondo averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists in 46 games as a starter for Rick Carlisle, noticeably lower numbers than what he contributed during his first nine seasons with the Celtics.
Still, the Kings found good use of him and is surprisingly faring well so far during the first 10 games of the season averaging 13.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 9.1 assists for controversial head coach Karl.
However, Sports Heaven, a fan-made blog at Sports Blog, listed down five players who could be traded during the midseason and Rondo is one of them.
The article predicted that the New Orleans Pelicans, Indiana Pacers, or Utah Jazz could "show interest" in the four-time All-star if ever the Kings' decide to deal him soon.
It also cited Sacramento's dismal 2-7 start to the season (although they have won their last game against Brooklyn on Friday to now become 3-7) as the prime reason why Rondo is in danger of being moved again.
Another possible reason is said to be the Kings highly-reported current "internal strife" between Cousins and Karl that could force team officials to overhaul the roster once more.
ESPN reported that Kings GM Vlade Divac is close to deciding on a "coaching change" because of the alleged "profanity-laced" incident between the team's superstar center and coach following Sacramento's loss to San Antonio on Monday.
However, a recent report from the Sacramento Bee said that Karl is impressed by Rondo's current play, which means as long as the 64-year-old coach is in Sacramento, Rondo will continue to be there as well.
The Cousins-Karl saga that began in the offseason is heating up at the moment and the only things that could possibly cool it down could be a winning streak by the Kings.
A home victory against the Raptors on Sunday would extend their winning run to three games and could calm the team down before the management makes any decisions they might regret.
