The Los Angeles Lakers continue to add veteran help for LeBron James by agreeing to a deal with point guard Rajon Rondo for one year, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter):
Rondo is signing a one-year deal with Lakers, per source.
Rondo, who helped the Pelicans reach the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008, enjoyed his best production with New Orleans during the playoffs, when he averaged 10.3 points, 12.2 assists and 7.6 rebounds.
According to Yahoo! Sports Chris Mannix, the Pelicans made an offer to Rondo, but the Lakers had a better one to give. (via Twitter):
New Orleans made an offer to bring Rondo back, per source, but the Lakers offer was considerably better.
The Lakers, who drafted Lonzo Ball with the second pick in the 2017 Draft, is reportedly acquired Rondo with the intention of having a battle for the starting point guard position when camp begins according to reports from Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter) and ESPN (via Twitter).
Rondo is coming to training camp with plans to compete for a starting job, source told @YahooSportsNBA.
Regarding Rondo and the Lakers, source (told Ramona Shelburne) says they told him that with LeBron here they’re trying to win now. Best man wins the job.
Also the Lakers renounced the rights to restricted free agent Julius Randle, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Drafted seventh overall by the Lakers in the 2014 NBA Draft, Randle owns career averages of 13.5, points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 238 games (182 starts) for Los Angeles. Randle finished 10th in the NBA in field goal percentage last season, shooting 55.8 percent from the floor. The University of Kentucky product played all 82 games (49 starts) in 2017-18, averaging a career-best 16.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
