Sacramento Kings point guard Rajon Rondo. (Photo : Getty Images)
Sacramento Kings' notorious point guard Rajon Rondo is the subject of recent trade rumors once again even as he is putting up ridiculous numbers for George Karl in 15 games so far this season. A move to the New York Knicks for Jose Calderon is the latest speculation, although it could only be done after his trade restriction expires in the middle of December.
Rondo is averaging 12.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 10.8 assists in almost 37 minutes per game as Karl's starting playmaker, which is an incredible stat line, yet the Kings are still struggling to find wins as they are third from the bottom in the West with a 5-10 record.
However, the problem with the nine-year vet and one-time NBA champion is that he is going to be an unrestricted free agent during next summer's expected hyper-inflated free agency period and there are no indications that he is planning to re-sign with Sacramento by then.
The Kings are highly likely to lose him and so a proactive move would be to trade him in midseason while his value is still high.
RantSports suggested that the Knicks may be willing to give Rondo the huge, long-standing contract that he desires as Phil Jackson is currently looking for "a long-term answer at point guard", something that the too old Calderon and too young Jerian Grant could not provide.
New York is in "win-now" mode this year as franchise star Carmelo Anthony is in the wrong side of 30 already, so having Rondo in the mix would help him a lot in realizing his dream of finally contending for a championship.
One of the Knicks' fans in the Ultimate Knicks forum suggested swapping Calderon and a 2018 first round pick for Rondo as the team is said to be "a guard short of being a playoff team this season".
The fan also said that getting Rondo and letting go of Calderon would make the Knicks "better now", which in turn would also make Anthony happy.
However, the big question here is if Jackson and Derek Fisher will take the risk of acquiring who is essentially a ticking time bomb when it comes to attitude and submission to authority?
It is highly likely that the answer to that question is no and so this hypothetical trade is not projected to happen anytime this season.
