LOS ANGELES – It wasn’t long before Paul George saw what Rajon Rondo can do for the LA Clippers.
Rondo made his Clippers-debut on Sunday, playing 13 minutes off the bench in a 104-86 win over the understaffed Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
While Rondo had only two points, three rebounds, and four turnovers while playing on a minute restriction after returning from an adductor injury, George can see all the intangibles that Rondo entails.
George said Rondo’s impact as a playmaker can help him and Kawhi Leonard as Russell Westbrook helped George when the two were in Oklahoma City.
“I think we can reserve more energy,” said George of how he and Leonard can take advantage of Rondo. “I relate it to the relationship I have with Russ. Russ has created a lot of close-out situations for me. And so it will be the same with Rondo. Rondo can come to the center of the paint, he can make plays. he create close-out situations for us. “
George said Rondo, who won a championship last season with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and the Lakers, will instantly become one of the revered leaders in the Clippers’ locker room.
“Rondo is a leader, you know the point guard, he’s a leader,” George said. “We’re going to listen to him. I see him as a leader, a leader of this group. He’s going to carry a lot of weight. He’s going to keep a lot of weight in the locker room. As he gets more comfortable inside. “He’s going to hold us accountable. That’s what you need in the locker room, someone to say what needs to be said and get us started.”
The Clippers exchanged Lou Williams for Rondo in the hopes that he would improve leadership, basketball IQ, chemistry and orchestrate the offense – all areas the Clippers were missing in the last postseason.
Rondo came off the bench on Sunday and had a turnover in his first game, but got a bargain three seconds later and gave his first assist by finding Nic Batum for a 3 late in the first quarter.
Clippers coach Ty Lue said that Rondo looked rusty as expected when he played in his first game since March 22, when the Atlanta Hawks played against Clippers.
Rondo said he has divided his time on the field to get to know the Clippers playbook and that he is recovering from his adductor injury in the training room. Lue said Rondo has been working in the locker room to figure out where teammates want the ball, including talking to Leonard and George about how to make it easier for them.
He was asked if he had identified which areas the Clippers need to improve in order to win a championship.
“I can’t parse it so quickly,” said Rondo. “Obviously I want to be around and keep my teammates learning, learning what the coach is asking of us as players. I can’t really say exactly, point out one thing that needs to be done here. this. work together as much as possible, lead in every possible way, and of course we have one common goal. “
Lue said he could see Rondo already improving the pace of the Clippers and believes he will help them get them into attacking sets faster and get Leonard and George in easier spots to score.
“He will play a key role in our run,” said Marcus Morris Sr., who had 22 points for the win. “It will help us immensely. It will help our superstars by making them easier to take pictures and get them in place and even defensively just knowing where to go.”
“He played with my brother [Markieff Morris] last year, and my brother had nothing but good things to say about him as a teammate. So we’re just excited to get a hold of him, and I think he’s going to really play a big part in our trying to put that banner up. “