The rebuild continues.
After not finding any trade suitors for the veteran point guard, the Chicago Bulls waived 31-year-old Rajon Rondo. Following a one-year stint in Chicago, the Bulls didn’t pick up Rondo’s team-option worth $13.4 million for the 2017-18 season and instead bought him out for the much cheaper price of $3 million. Oh! They also waived Isaiah Canaan.
The Bulls have waived Rajon Rondo and Isaiah Canaan.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) June 30, 2017
So, we’re down to one alpha.
Rondo had a strange season, being the starter, then put in a backup role and he was even benched at one point of the year. However, when it came to the playoffs Rondo became the most important player on the team. He helped the Bulls go up 2-0 over the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics, but after missing the rest of the series because of an injury the Bulls imploded and were eliminated in six games.
Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Rondo when he was signed and it had nothing to do with the Bulls contradicting their “younger and more athletic” statement, but just him as a player. I thought he was a bad dude, bad teammate, however, my view on him changed when he stuck up for the young guys. You remember, it was that Instagram post.
Rajon Rondo Adds Fuel To The Bulls Dumpster Fire, Calls Out Leadership In Instagram Post
Obviously it would be great to keep Rondo around, as he’s made it a point to actually want to help out the young players on the Bulls, instead of having Dwyane Wade, but life isn’t fair and this is what we’re stuck with as fans. The only real value Rondo would have on the roster would be to act as a mentor because the young point guards need to play. Newly acquired Kris Dunn is being pegged as the future at point guard for this team, taking that title from Cameron Payne, who should also see a lot of playing time during the upcoming season.
Kris Dunn and Cameron Payne? Fun times ahead, Bulls fans!
Anyway, free agency is here and you really shouldn’t be expecting anything major with the Bulls. Not a shocker, I know, it’s a rebuild so you should only see a couple veterans sign to fill out the end of the bench. Hopefully those vets will be willing to mentor the younger guys.
One last note, I still don’t know what the Bulls see in Nikola Mirotic, who only seems to play well in March, but all signs point to him coming back. Help the tank, I guess.
Well, farewell Rajon Rondo. I’ll take him on my team any day of the week.
