When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again That is the opinion of Rajon Rondo. The veteran point guard followed James in joining the Lakers. The four-time NBA All-Star signs a one-year $9million deal after leaving the New Orleans Pelicans. Rondo brings added experience to a roster built around young talent and now headlined by four-time MVP James, who chose to join the Lakers after opting out of the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers have been hoping to add extra superstar talent alongside the 33-year-old as they look to challenge the Golden State Warriors’ dominance of the NBA. The Western Conference champions have snapped up three of the last four championships - beating James’ Cavs in the Finals in each of those years. But a trade deal to bring in Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio this summer is proving difficult with the Spurs unwavering in their stance that they want multiple top assets in order to let Leonard go now despite the power forward's desire to leave the organisation.<doc-sep>Photo : Gregory Shamus ( Getty Images ) The Lakers have LeBron James. Good for them. They now also have a handful of guys who seem like ideal targets to absorb LeBron’s ire. Advertisement Since James agreed to a deal Sunday night, JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson, and Rajon Rondo have all signed one-year deals with the Lakers. While McGee is a pretty useful big man and probably unfairly still followed by a reputation of being a bonehead, Stephenson and Rondo both have histories as antagonists who aren’t exactly fans of James. They’re all on short contracts, so if they don’t become part of an affordable, effective bench—and if any backbiting starts surfacing in anonymous sourced reports—they can be jettisoned. Apparently team executives Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are not veering from any original plan, because the Lakers’ best player is fine with it, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. LeBron really must trust the Lakers! In other moves, the Lakers signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, also a client of James’s agent Rich Paul, to a one-year deal, and renounced restricted free agent Julius Randle. Renounced! Advertisement This is a very weird team. As it stands now, Lonzo Ball and Rondo would play point; one has trouble shooting and one seems actually allergic to it. The unresolved Kawhi Leonard trade rumors are still wafting in the air and a trade with the Spurs could settle who’s actually staying in L.A. and who was too early with his celebratory tweet about getting to play with LeBron. (Not that this means anything at all, but Ball and Kyle Kuzma have been openly pumped about their new teammate, while small forward and obvious trade candidate Brandon Ingram has stayed mum.) As we wait for the rest of the Lakers’ moves to unfold, watch Brian “And He Is So Strong” Windhorst become flabbergasted after hearing the Rondo news:<doc-sep>During a conference call with Lakers media on Friday afternoon, Rajon Rondo offered some insight into why Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka brought him to Los Angeles. “They kept a close eye on me throughout (last) season and loved my performance and what I was able to do with the young core and help the Pelicans go where they were last year,” he said. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job the last couple seasons, going into the mentor stage of my career, helping young guys develop not necessarily on the court but off.” As for that on-court stuff ... rewind back to 2016-17, when New Orleans won just 34 games, missing out on the playoffs despite adding DeMarcus Cousins – who played 17 games – at the trade deadline. Move up to 2017-18, when Rondo was the only real offseason addition to get big minutes. The Pelicans did get 48 games out of Cousins before he tore his Achilles and added Nikola Mirotic at the trade deadline, and with Anthony Davis in the MVP conversation, went on to finish the season 48-34, good for sixth in a tough Western Conference. Then, most impressively, they swept third-seeded Portland in Round 1 before falling to eventual champion Golden State in five games. Rob Pelinka was watching. “We are thrilled to have Rajon bring his off-the-charts basketball IQ to the Lakers,” said Pelinka. “He has a proven ability to play at an elite level during playoff and championship runs, and that is a highly valued skill. Rajon is also respected around the NBA as an extremely hard worker and relentless competitor and that mentality is key to how we want build our roster.” Rondo said the Lakers are “expected to win now,” and thinks he’ll have something to do with that. “They have me here to help win games, any way possible, whatever situation I might be in,” he said. “I think they have plans, me being here along with other guys they brought in along with this great young core that we have. Last year, Rondo averaged 8.3 points on 46.8 percent shooting and 33.3 percent from three with 8.2 assists (fourth in the NBA) with 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 26.2 minutes in the regular season, before upping his production to 10.3 points on 41.3 percent shooting and 42.1 percent from three, 12.2 assists, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 33.6 playoff minutes per game. @RajonRondo sits down to talk about joining the Lakers, and what his expectations are for the upcoming season pic.twitter.com/wBa0s2ApCp — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 6, 2018 I asked the 31-year-old where he thinks his game has evolved the most in the last few years. “My decision making,” he answered. “I take a lot of pride on my assist-to-turnover ratio the last couple seasons. Obviously taking care of the ball in the fourth quarter. With the ball in your hands as the point guard you want to be able to control the game and take care of it. Other than that, you know what you’re getting with me. I’m going to compete every possession. I’m going to bring it every night. I know I’m a winner.” Rondo, in fact, ranked sixth in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.53) last season. When reports first came out about Rondo’s signing on July 1, there were questions about whether he’d come off the bench behind Lonzo Ball, or start. Rondo said he’s not worried about it. “I’m not so much caught up in the starting and things like that,” he relayed. “I’m caught up in just winning a championship.” Rondo said he “didn’t see much” of Lonzo until they actually played head-to-head, which happened only once with each player missing one game due to injury. “From what I’ve seen, I’m excited to get a player at that age and try to help him as much as I can, as far as understanding the game and getting his game up to speed at a high level,” said Rondo. “Especially with the amount of pressure now the organization has every night, we’re going to get guys’ best shots. As far as understanding that night in and night out, that’s what separates good players from the great players.” Rondo was also asked what stood out to him about the current roster. “The versatility. The length that we have at a lot of positions,” he offered. “I think we can do a lot of things defensively with our length and guys buying into the defensive end of the game.” On the other end, it’s more about ball movement and playmakers. “We might have a roster where there’s five ballhandlers on the court at one time,” he shared. “Five guys that can play make and create offense for each other versus just one dominant ballhandler. So we’re very versatile, and I don’t think you’ll be able to scout and stick to one game plan as far as trying to stop a certain player.” With more and more threes being taken every year in the NBA, I wondered what Rondo thought about the makeup of the roster, considering the aforementioned ballhandlers and playmakers as compared to more of a sharp-shooting squad. Welcome to the squad, Rajon!! pic.twitter.com/b8cQ7Cg5tG — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) July 6, 2018 “Obviously a lot of teams are shooting the three ball,” he responded. “But I think it’s kinda crazy if you think you’re going to outshoot Golden State at this point. They proved it three or four years straight that no team can really shoot with them. There’s other ways you have to try and beat those guys, and I think we’re going to try and crack that code.” That’s not to say the Lakers won’t shoot a lot of threes. Far from it. In fact, they got better in terms of efficiency as last season went on, with several players shooting it well after the All-Star break: Brandon Ingram (46.2 percent); Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (42.3); Josh Hart (39.3); Kyle Kuzma (38.5); and Brook Lopez (36.7). Rondo will try and figure it all out with his new head coach, Luke Walton, whom he spent 20-30 minutes with while checking out the UCLA Health Training Center. “He’s going to play fast,” Rondo recalled. “We’re going to get up and down and get after it. Push the pace. We’re going to defend.” Rondo also mentioned Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant as new sources of basketball information he’s quite excited about. “I am looking forward to learning … I look forward to soaking as much knowledge as possible,” Rondo offered. “I believe you learn every day. I am nowhere near where I want to be as far as learning the game, as far as understanding from different guys’ perspective. I am looking forward to that. The object of the game has changed. I want to kind of break down Magic’s brain and his mindset and how he thought the game back in the day versus now and there are so many great players that have played in this organization, I am sure I will get the opportunity to talk amongst a lot of them and pick their brain.”<doc-sep>
Rajon Rondo made a few references to winning a championship with the Lakers before being asked outright about the idea. Does he think this Lakers team, with LeBron James, a group of young players and tough-minded veterans on one-year deals, can win a championship? Rondo didn’t balk at the question. “You put any team, any group of players around LeBron James, as he has done [eight] straight times, he goes to the Finals,” Rondo said Friday on a conference call. “My expectations are the exact same thing. Even with the Warriors adding [DeMarcus Cousins] and the Rockets being who they are, I think we fit right up there in the mix. It’s early, obviously, and I’m not promising anything, but at the end of the day, I expect to win. Nothing else.” The Lakers signed Rondo on Friday, the first day of the offseason that NBA contracts could be finalized, to a one-year, $9-million deal, according to sources not authorized to speak publicly. They also re-signed guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who started 74 games last season on a one-year deal, to another one-year deal worth $12 million, sources said. The Lakers’ draft day trade with Philadelphia also became official. The Lakers traded a 2019 second-round pick and cash to the 76ers for the 39th pick, guard Isaac Bonga. The 6-foot-9 German signed his contract before flying to Las Vegas on Friday afternoon to join the rest of the Lakers’ summer league team. The Lakers have yet to make official their agreed-upon deals with James and swingman Lance Stephenson. Rondo, averaged 8.3 points and 8.2 assists last season and started 63 games, said the Lakers called right after midnight on July 1. “I don’t think you have to pitch much to come play with LeBron James and [Kyle] Kuzma and Brandon Ingram; [they have] talent,” Rondo said. “I’m excited to be a part of this team.” Rajon Rondo helped the Pelicans return to the playoffs last season, starting 63 of 65 games he played for them. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press ) That July 1 chat renewed a conversation that began last year during free agency when the Lakers considered signing Rondo. He opted for a one-year deal with New Orleans and helped the Pelicans win 48 games and reach the playoffs. Rondo is familiar with what it takes to win a championship, having won one with Boston in 2008 as the Celtics’ point guard, at the expense of the Lakers. Two years later the Lakers beat his Celtics in the Finals. As the years passed, Rondo developed a relationship with the most significant Laker on those teams — Kobe Bryant. “Kobe’s obviously still around the organization and I look forward to talking with him and picking his brain as well,” Rondo said. “It’s [going] to be exciting to be around a bunch of legends and guys with so much knowledge and hopefully I’ll be able to soak a lot of it from Magic and Kobe and also especially LeBron.” Rondo spent eight seasons with Boston before bouncing around to Dallas, Sacramento and Chicago. In recent years, with aspirations of being a coach, he turned his focus toward mentoring younger players. The Lakers told Rondo he would have a chance to compete with Lonzo Ball for the starting point guard job, sources said. Rondo insisted Friday he wasn’t “caught up” in who would be starting. “I’ve done a pretty good job in the last couple seasons, as far as just kind of going into that mentoring stage in my career and helping young guys develop, not necessarily on the court but also even more so off the court,” Rondo said. “How to become a young man, how to conduct business off the court, not necessarily as far as a father figure but also just a guy that’s been through a lot of things they’re going to go through.” tania.ganguli@latimes.com Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli