BULLS SIGN RONDO, $ 28M FOR 2 YEARS
Front office finally fina makes a move, signing point guard Rondo to two- year, $ 28 million deal
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg hasn’t exactly received the life preserver he was offered a few months ago.
Vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman seemed poised to get Hoiberg the necessary tools going into his second year, whether it was players who better fit his system or a more loyal staff.
Even with a source confirming a report Sunday that the Bulls have agreed on a two- year, $ 28 million deal for veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, Hoiberg’s life preserver has been more like a heavy rock with a rope tied around it.
The Rondo deal, which cannot be made official until July 6, makes sense on the surface because Rondo led the NBA with 11.7 assists per game this past season. Derrick Rose, who was traded to the New York Knicks on June 22, had trouble with his decision- making most of the season, and his 4.7 assists per game in an offense built on pacing and ball movement wasn’t getting it done.
But Rondo is also 30, and if guard Jimmy Butler has given Hoiberg headaches at times, Rondo threatens to be worse. Playing on four teams in less than two years, Rondo is far removed from the player who helped the Boston Celtics win a championship in 2008. He has had fiery relationships with coaches Rick Carlisle and George Karl since last season, and was punished by the NBA for using an anti- gay slur against referee Bill Kennedy.
The other side of the Rondo coin is that he never has been described as soft. The Bulls were looking to add toughness. “We’re in this with Fred,” Paxson said in his address at the end of the season. “It’s our responsibility to help him along th a t way. And that’s looking at everything we do from top to bottom.”
The cleaning started with the dismissal of mascot Benny the Bull andan continued with hiring a new strengthstr and fitness coordinator, tradingtra Rose to the Knicks, drafting ing Denzel Valentine and letting free-fre agent center Joakim Noah joinjoi Rose in New York. Meanwhile, rumoredrum changes to the coaching staffsta never happened, and filling the voidvo for Rose, Noah and Pau Gasol are Robin Lopez, 34- year- old Jose Calderon,Ca Rondo and the unproven JerianJe Grant and Valentine. “We still believe Fred has a bright future,” Paxson said in his address. “He’s going to have to devote a lot of time and energy to determining what he wants to be as a head coach a and how he wants his teams to play.pla And we have to give him the resources to do that. And we will.”
The belief at the start of the offseason was that another assistant would join Jim Boylen on the defensive end, meaning Randy Brown would be moved back to the front office, where he had been an assistant GM under Forman. Several players, including Noah, had trust issues with Brown because of his close ties with Forman, believing he was there more to act as eyes and ears for Forman than to help Hoiberg. Noah’s departure may have the front office feeling it no longer needs to remove Brown from that situation.
One Bulls player said Hoiberg has been in his office almost daily watching film, but Hoiberg did that last summer, too. It didn’t end so well.