Official: Rondo to Dallas!!

[BGMaverick9]

The quote board to the presser

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2014/12/...e-quote-board/

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

The quote board to the presser

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2014/12/...e-quote-board/

Great stuff.

[fluid.forty.one]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

The quote board to the presser

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2014/12/...e-quote-board/

Thought it was odd (not necessarily in a negative way, just surprising) that he mentioned Dirk so little. Less than other players.

[EricaLubarsky]

It was a wierd presser, but dude played for 9 years in Boston until he got a 45 min phone call from Ainge. Today he talked to Cubes, hopped on Cuban's jet, and flew out for a 2.5 hour physical. I'd be pretty shocked in that position, too.

[howdoesmydirktaste]

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Thought it was odd (not necessarily in a negative way, just surprising) that he mentioned Dirk so little. Less than other players.

When he mentioned Dirk, I got the impression that he didn't have a lot to say because it's well documented how great he is. No need to beat that dead horse. No one is questioning how well he will mesh with Dirk.

The vibe I got from the press conference is that he's going to study his film, see what the guys like to do, then run the offense to their strengths.

He said he knew that Monta needed the ball and he would make that happen.

[sefant77]

Im even more excited...really nice quotes from Rondo and i absolutly believe him.

He is dying to get a ring again, so im also pretty confident he is re-signing. Hell, where else he could sign a big contract with a contender? Lakers? Knicks? LOL

He also knows he cant be too ball-dominant or he kills Montas skill level. So im pretty sure they are able to co-exist. And like 1/3 of the game they wont play together anyway....

[sefant77]

Well...happy looks different. Thats almost Kaman/Gordon/Aminu level of sad faces..

[twelli]

Sucks for them, but on the other side, they signed up for the NBA, knowing that this happens all the time, and they earn a lot of money for that. So, I am not pitying any NBA player who gets traded. Also, if you are good and work hard, things usually work out fine. Brandon and Jae will surely have some good times ahead of them.

[EricaLubarsky]

I feel really bad for them. I'm going to miss Crowder and Wright.

[MFFL]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Cuban says Powell is a stretch 4/5... Sounds kind of like they're trying to groom him into a rotational player.

I suspect that like Ledo, he'll be a Development League player during their home games and with us on the road

[LSMF]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Well...happy looks different. Thats almost Kaman/Gordon/Aminu level of sad faces..

[LSMF]

Just finished watching the presser. Rondo sounds very intelligent and focused. A lot of funny stuff in the presser too. One that sticks in my mind was the reporter in the beginning.
Reporter: "What was the main reason you decided to come to Dallas? What did it for you?"
Rondo: "It wasn't my decision."
*Crowd starts laughing*

[EricaLubarsky]

Dallas just jumped ahead to #5 and only one back of Houston for #4.

[Samurai]

I thought that Rondo would cost a whole lot more than this. Steal IF he is healthy and re-signs with Dallas. Great synergy with TC. Other Chandler and Dirk, meh. Great backcourt fit on defense. Not so on offense.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

I feel really bad for them. I'm going to miss Crowder and Wright.

Yup me too although they were always trade filler. The mavs have helped them come into a pretty lucrative payday i expect. Much like bbass.

[LonghornDub]

No guarantee this deal works out like we all want, but I suspect you are overthinking it if you aren't convinced it makes the Mavs immediately better by a substantial margin.

Also, "I don't like guards who can't shoot" makes a lot of sense--when you're talking about the 99% of guards who aren't 1/5th as good as Rondo at everything other than shooting. The point applies less persuasively to Rondo than to pretty much any other guard in the NBA.

It's kind of like saying, "I don't like players who can't make free throws" when talking about Shaq. I mean, yeah....nobody likes players who can't make free throws. It's an obvious proposition. But it's Shaq.

[Jproxursoxoff]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Well...happy looks different. Thats almost Kaman/Gordon/Aminu level of sad faces..

Wow. This is easily the most depressing picture I've seen in a while. The looks of hurt and betrayal.

Edit: Okay I actually watched the presser, and it's not as depressing as this image suggests. Jameer just kind of has an "It is what it is" attitude. He's a veteran and a professional and had to know something was coming due to his poor play. I feel the worse for Jae. He wasn't as chipper about the whole thing. But what's done is done. I'll obviously keep an eye on their careers, but it's just weird because Jae and Wright were becoming family with the team.

[Five-ofan]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

No guarantee this deal works out like we all want, but I suspect you are overthinking it if you aren't convinced it makes the Mavs immediately better by a substantial margin.

Also, "I don't like guards who can't shoot" makes a lot of sense--when you're talking about the 99% of guards who aren't 1/5th as good as Rondo at everything other than shooting. The point applies less persuasively to Rondo than to pretty much any other guard in the NBA.

It's kind of like saying, "I don't like players who can't make free throws" when talking about Shaq. I mean, yeah....nobody likes players who can't make free throws. It's an obvious proposition. But it's Shaq.

The question is, is rondo still that guy? He's been a below average player for 3 years. There are lots of reasons to think that will change here(and below average would be a huge upgrade from Nelson) but there are actual concerns

[yahyes]

All I want from Rondo right now is help in assists and defending. Till then hopefully he can find a way. Mavs need the true point. Rondo has plenty of time to mesh.

[Cerberus]

Found this in YouTube comments section and thought it was hilarious

Houston didn't want to give up Chandler Parsons for Rondo last year....and now Dallas has Chandler Parsons AND Rajon Rondo

Also I know people might/are saying Rondo isn't a good fit with Ellis, but they are only thinking on the offense side of things. Rondo/Ellis pairing fits so well in defense which is our main concern. Calderon/Nelson with Ellis was great on offense but disgusting on defense.

We are 1st in OFF efficiency by a mile, it wouldn't matter if we drop just a bit because our Defense should rise to a larger extent therefore diminishing the difference from our best asset to our liability

And link to Crowder/Nelson/Wright's Boston Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIVzRajUOLE

[ffballer]

im gonna say this right now, before rajon suits up for his first game as a maverick, we have one of the best backcourts of the league, i know most of y'all don't like felton, but when the dude comes back, uh boy RONDO/MONTA FELTON/HARRIS/BAREA daaaamn!!

[howdoesmydirktaste]

Originally Posted by sefant77

Well...happy looks different. Thats almost Kaman/Gordon/Aminu level of sad faces..

Crowder looks stoned. Wright looks like he doesn't know where he is. Nelson looks like was asked a stupid question.

[tsar]

Originally Posted by BGMaverick9

The quote board to the presser

http://www.mavsoutsider.com/2014/12/...e-quote-board/

Good stuff man. I'm so excited to have him on the Mavs. He seems really intelligent and driven. I bet Carlisle is giggling inside

[markus1234]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Found this in YouTube comments section and thought it was hilarious



Also I know people might/are saying Rondo isn't a good fit with Ellis, but they are only thinking on the offense side of things. Rondo/Ellis pairing fits so well in defense which is our main concern. Calderon/Nelson with Ellis was great on offense but disgusting on defense.

We are 1st in OFF efficiency by a mile, it wouldn't matter if we drop just a bit because our Defense should rise to a larger extent therefore diminishing the difference from our best asset to our liability

And link to Crowder/Nelson/Wright's Boston Conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIVzRajUOLE

Our OFF efficiency will also improve big time. Guys will get better looks and shoot a higher %.

There is a huge difference if you play Jameer and Devin for 35 min. or Rondo. Having a guy like Rondo out there for ~35 min will be sick. Almost better than J Kidd. Kidd was not really a 30min+ player anymore when he joined us.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

One thing that really struck me about the press conference was how concise and to the point Donnie was. There was no howdy doody boys in blue bs talk. Almost like he knew he was the man now after proving himself as a top GM.

[markus1234]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

One thing that really struck me about the press conference was how concise and to the point Donnie was. There was no howdy doody boys in blue bs talk. Almost like he knew he was the man now after proving himself as a top GM.

I think it was more about Rondo's personality.

Rondo hates BS talkers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playof...Rondo-Chapter1

If it were Dwight Howard Donnie and Cuban would probably joke around.

[grndmstr_c]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

One thing that really struck me about the press conference was how concise and to the point Donnie was. There was no howdy doody boys in blue bs talk. Almost like he knew he was the man now after proving himself as a top GM.

Now I'll have to go back and read what he said. I've gotten to the point where I just don't pay much attention to Donnie's public comments because he's so rarely the one to offer insight into the Mavs' thinking. But he can definitely strut after what the team's done the last year and a half. I hear a lot of talk about Cuban having lived up to his end of the bargain now, and the Mavs have definitely taken on short term salary in this deal. But they still aren't even in the top 10 in payroll, and next summer is when Mark really comes up to bat. To this point the progress hasn't come through sustained spending over the cap, but rather by steadily putting one foot in front of the other until you get where you want to go, and I've no doubt Donnie deserves a lot of credit for that (with, it can't be said enough, a massive assist from Dirk).

Now just crossing my fingers it works as well on court as it does on paper.

[G-Man]

With all the talk about Rondo's diminished abilities over the last three years, what I am excited about in the increased MENTAL capacities at the point. Read the articles on him and everybody says he's one of the smartest players out there, that he sees the game and the court better than his coaches do. Its the kind of stuff they said about Jason Kidd. And by the time Kidd got back to Dallas, his physical abilities had diminished dramatically from his peak.

If you look back at the Mavs 2011 highlights, you will rarely see Kidd in the play. Often he just made the initial pass to start the sequence, then got out of the way. I expect Rondo to be smart enough to know when to do that and when to dominate the ball. As a comparison, Jameer seemed to be wondering what to do next every time he touched the ball. That led to a lot of turn overs, and ill advised 3 point shots. Rondo understands that the job of the PG is to make his teammates better, to get them good looks and deliver the ball where they want it to facilitate shots. Remember, this is why we traded Devin for Kidd.

The other thing I noticed watching Rondo highlights, is that whenever the Celts would grab a rebound, they'd kick to Rondo to start the break, just like we used to do with JKidd. Not so much now, because we are just as good with Parsons or Dirk or anybody bringing up the ball. With his ability to see the court and make the pass, Rondo would make our transition game much better, helped more by his rebounding, and forcing tougher shots by opposing guards.

Even if he has lost a step due to surgery, Rondo is the kind of guard who has a lot of talents besides his athleticism. As Kidd taught us, and as the banner hanging from the rafters proves, its what's going on between the ears that counts.

[mavsfan1000]

Just one question. Will opposing point guards crowding the paint effect our penetration? Jameer Nelson wasn't a great 3 pointer. But he still demanded some attention and not to be left alone.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by mavsfan1000

Just one question. Will opposing point guards crowding the paint effect our penetration? Jameer Nelson wasn't a great 3 pointer. But he still demanded some attention and not to be left alone.

You think opposing teams will let their PG sit in the paint? If they are that crazy, then Rondo is going to get a LOT of wide-open jumpers and his FG will never be higher.

[mavsfan1000]

Except most of Rondo's shots are in the paint. But he's gonna have to hit perimeter shots for us to succeed to keep the defense honest. Until he proves he can hit a long distance 2 or 3 point shot regularly, he will be a liability on offense. And not worth giving up our strong bench to do so. Also an alarming stat is the Celtics have a better record the last couple years when Rondo was out.

[howdoesmydirktaste]

My 2 cents on Rondo's decline in production. Put garbage around Dirk and see what happens to his numbers. I know we can say that the teams after the championship weren't stellar, but they were still good enough to sniff or make the playoffs in the tough West. Dirk has never had a cast of spares like what Rondo has had since his championship team was taken away from him. This is because he has Mark Cuban. Now Rondo has Mark Cuban too. The only thing that can prevent Rondo's numbers from getting better with this cast is an injury (knock on wood).

[LonghornDub]

Originally Posted by Five-ofan

The question is, is rondo still that guy? He's been a below average player for 3 years. There are lots of reasons to think that will change here(and below average would be a huge upgrade from Nelson) but there are actual concerns

He leads the league in triple doubles, assists, and PG rebounding while being unmotivated and playing for a bad team...so I would tend to think he's still got something.

Originally Posted by mavsfan1000

But he's gonna have to hit perimeter shots for us to succeed to keep the defense honest. Until he proves he can hit a long distance 2 or 3 point shot regularly, he will be a liability on offense.

Are you suggesting that Rondo's been a liability on offense his entire career? Because he's never been able to consistently make those shots. He's also somehow, some way been a very productive player any time his teammates were halfway decent. Again, it's really kind of silly to pick apart the one thing a guy doesn't do well when he does pretty much everything else well. Jason Kidd couldn't drive at all and could barely make an open layup. The folks who complained about that ended up looking awfully silly, as he did pretty much everything else well.

Again, I think folks are overthinking it. When you get the best player (by far) in a trade, you usually have won the trade. This is one of those cases.

[howdoesmydirktaste]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

He leads the league in triple doubles, assists, and PG rebounding while being unmotivated and playing for a bad team...so I would tend to think he's still got something.

I think the last three seasons Rondo was so focused on trying to make spares around him better that he didn't really focus on his shooting. Now that he's got a cast of characters that will force the defense to make huge commitments to guard his teammates, I think his baskets will be easier and his PPG and FG% will go up. No comment on the free throws.

[mavsfan1000]

Originally Posted by LonghornDub

He leads the league in triple doubles, assists, and PG rebounding while being unmotivated and playing for a bad team...so I would tend to think he's still got something.



Are you suggesting that Rondo's been a liability on offense his entire career? Because he's never been able to consistently make those shots. He's also somehow, some way been a very productive player any time his teammates were halfway decent. Again, it's really kind of silly to pick apart the one thing a guy doesn't do well when he does pretty much everything else well. Jason Kidd couldn't drive at all and could barely make an open layup. The folks who complained about that ended up looking awfully silly, as he did pretty much everything else well.

Again, I think folks are overthinking it. When you get the best player (by far) in a trade, you usually have won the trade. This is one of those cases.

Well Rondo used to be faster before the injuries. And he played in the leastern conference. He was surrounded by Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen. And that team was great defensively. They didn't need to score a ton a game because their defense was good enough.

[turin]

Wow, been out of touch and without internet for almost two weeks while in Peru. I finally decide to check my email and log on and see this news. Awesome! I really like Rondo, especially his competitiveness and high bball IQ. This is going to make the remainder of the season much more interesting to watch. I'm glad the trade was made this early. The Mavs need every game they can get to mesh the new lineup.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by mavsfan1000

Well Rondo used to be faster before the injuries. And he played in the leastern conference. He was surrounded by Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen. And that team was great defensively. They didn't need to score a ton a game because their defense was good enough.

Are you suggesting that being slower is a given? That he wouldn't be special in the West? That somehow having a defensive team (even if that were true) meant that his offensive accomplishments were less important? I'm not really getting your point.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

People were saying the same thing about Tyson Chandler...he'd lost a step, bad year with the Knicks (I'd love a 9/10/1 bad year from a center versus playing Dalembert), etc. Look how that turned out...

Rondo will just have to use his BBIQ to make up for anything athletically he has lost. And since his IQ is praised league-wise, I'm not worried.

[FreshJive]

Originally Posted by mavsfan1000

Except most of Rondo's shots are in the paint. But he's gonna have to hit perimeter shots for us to succeed to keep the defense honest. Until he proves he can hit a long distance 2 or 3 point shot regularly, he will be a liability on offense. And not worth giving up our strong bench to do so. Also an alarming stat is the Celtics have a better record the last couple years when Rondo was out.

He has proven that he can hit the long 2.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/co...ting-is-wrong/

[howdoesmydirktaste]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

People were saying the same thing about Tyson Chandler...he'd lost a step, bad year with the Knicks (I'd love a 9/10/1 bad year from a center versus playing Dalembert), etc. Look how that turned out...

Rondo will just have to use his BBIQ to make up for anything athletically he has lost. And since his IQ is praised league-wise, I'm not worried.

Couple that with the fact that he's surrounding himself with a new team that has a high BBIQ like he does, and he should be fine.