The Cavaliers are on the cusp of being a top-tier team, and Rajon Rondo is at the center of it. When LeBron James left Cleveland in 2010, his tenures was widely considered to be over with few people genuinely believing anything would come out as well for him. Entering free agency this offseason, he wound up joining the defending champion Cavs instead of staying in Boston or returning home to Miami where he could have ended up coaching Dwyane Wade’s son Zion (the two were friends). Now that Kyrie Irving has been traded away from Cleveland during these playoffs after asking for a trade last season without actually requesting one until now, it seems like everything is falling into place with its new roster before they even get there!
The “cleveland cavs roster” is a team that has gone through some changes in the last few years. The first move was to trade for LeBron James, which led to them winning the NBA championship in 2016.
The Los Angeles Lakers traded Rajon Rondo to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this month, and the two-time NBA champion has now joined a new squad.
While Rondo has a chance to help a resurgent Cavs team vie for a title, his relationship with the team dates back nearly 12 years.
When he was a part in LeBron James’ decision to leave town.
Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Rajon Rondo had one of his greatest series of his career.
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Rajon Rondo began his NBA career with the Boston Celtics in 2006 and had a key part in the team’s championship victory in 2008. During that postseason run, he averaged 10.2 points and 6.6 assists, and he helped them defeat Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
Rondo, on the other hand, had one of his finest postseasons of his career a few years later.
The Celtics were placed fourth in the 2010 NBA playoffs, and after defeating the Miami Heat in the first round, they faced LeBron James and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. After finishing the regular season with the best record in the league for the second year in a row, the Cavs went out and signed NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal and former All-Star Antawn Jamison.
Cleveland, on the other hand, had not expecting Rondo to be the player they needed to stop entering into the series. The Celtics possessed future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, but it was the 23-year-old Kentucky native who emerged as their go-to player.
With an average of 20.7 points per game, Rondo led Boston in scoring in the series. He even had 27 points in Game 1 and 29 points in Game 4. But it was his playmaking ability that made him so tough to defend. In his six games versus the Cavaliers, Rondo averaged 11.8 assists per game. He also had 13 assists and 18 rebounds to go along with his 29 points.
That was the start of the mythology that is now known as “Playoff Rondo,” and it led to the Celtics’ six-game victory against the Cavaliers. They won the last three games by a combined 51 points and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they faced the Lakers once again.
However, LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland was influenced by the victory.
After the series, LeBron James departed the Cavaliers.
Before a game on Feb. 25, 2010, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers welcomes Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics. | Getty Images/Elsa
That heartbreaking playoff defeat underscored how impossible it would be for LeBron James to win a championship with the Cavaliers as they now stand.
He announced his departure from Cleveland to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Heat a few months later. The three superstars basically teamed together in order to defeat the Celtics (a team with whom both Wade and James had issues) and win championships.
As you may know, James and the Heat have participated in four consecutive NBA Finals, winning two of them.
So, although LeBron subsequently returned to the Cavaliers and won a championship with them in 2016, Rondo and the Celtics’ 2010 shock were key factors in his initial departure. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have left Cleveland if the Cavs had won the title or, at the absolute least, advanced to the Finals that season?
Rajon Rondo has returned to Cleveland, but this time as a Cavalier.
Rajon Rondo is back with the Cavaliers almost a decade after he was traded away by LeBron James. And he’s probably thinking he can assist them in doing the inconceivable.
The Cavs have shocked everyone this season, opening 21-17 and competing for a playoff place in the Eastern Conference. However, with Ricky Rubio and Collin Sexton out with injury, Rondo will seek to provide steadiness at guard with third-year standout Darius Garland.
This season, Garland is the only healthy (and regular) Cavaliers player averaging more than 2.5 assists per game. However, Rondo’s ability to locate the open guy, as he demonstrated against the Cavaliers in the 2010 conference semifinals, could relieve some of the load on Garland and help Cleveland’s offense work like a well-oiled machine.
Overall, Rondo has the potential to help the Cavs achieve something extraordinary this season. And he knows a thing or two about putting on a memorable show in Cleveland. Perhaps he’ll have a couple more of his own.
Basketball Reference provided the statistics.
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