Rajon Rondo made his long-awaited season debut for the Celtics last night and played 19 minutes in a 107-104 home loss to the Lakers. It was the first time that Rondo had taken the floor since tearing his ACL last January, and he put up eight points while dishing out four assists. Here’s more on Rondo and the Eastern Conference:
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com opines that the Celtics’ decision to name Rondo captain of the team should help to dispel any trade rumors that involve the veteran point guard. It’s unlikely the club decides to name Rondo captain and then one month later ships him off to another team, Forsberg writes.
- In the same piece, Forsberg mentions that Celtics GM Danny Ainge likes the makeup of his team but feels they still need to develop: “We have a long way to go. There’s a lot of good positive things that are happening with our team and a lot of good development with a lot of our young guys. We have some good veteran guys who have set great examples, hard-workers for our young guys. And I feel like we’re figuring out who we want on the bus.“
- The Bulls created quite a bit of financial flexibility when they dealt Luol Deng to Cleveland, but Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders notes that the flexibility will more than likely be used to sign multiple players in free agency, rather than one big name like LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony.
- It’s been a tough season for last summer’s number one pick in the draft, Anthony Bennett. The Cavaliers have yet to get valuable minutes out of the forward from UNLV, and Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer notes that the acquisition of Deng will limit his time on the floor even further. Schmitt Boyer hears Cleveland isn’t against the idea of sending Bennett to the D-League, but for now the team believes his time is better spent in the NBA.