Knicks Rumors: Pros And Cons Of Pursuing Rajon Rondo

Pro: Close With Carmelo Anthony

Both financially and on the court, the New York Knicks are building the future of the organization around Carmelo Anthony. Thus, the Knicks will likely—and should—value Anthony’s opinion when pursuing free agents.

Anthony shouldn’t be given absolute power, but his personal relationship with Rajon Rondo should be weighed as a factor in free agency.

Anthony is one of the most dominant scorers of his era, but he struggled to find the bottom of the net in 2015-16. One of the primary reasons for his inefficiency was the absence of a player who could set him up with scoring opportunities that weren’t based in isolation.

In early March, Anthony told reporters that he sees Rondo as a player who could help the Knicks. Per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News:

"“I think Rondo — just me personally, I don’t want to be tampering — but I’ve heard he said he wouldn’t thrive in a system like this,” Anthony said. “I think he’d be perfect in a system like this.” “It is a misconception about that. Some of the keys of our offense is penetration, getting in the paint,” Anthony said. “Pushing the pace, transition. Creating in the paint for bigs, for yourself, everybody else. I think a point guard would love that. Especially a point guard who can penetrate, create for yourself, create for others. I think it’s a perfect opportunity for him."

In other words: “Dear Rajon Rondo, come play point guard in New York.”

The Knicks are a far more appealing destination for Rondo with Jeff Hornacek as head coach. The Triangle Offense won’t be the foundation for the offense, which means Rondo can have more freedom as a playmaker.

More applicably, he’d alleviate much of the playmaking pressure from Anthony, who led the Knicks with a relatively underwhelming average of 4.2 assists per game.

According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Rondo acknowledged the mutual respect shared between he and Anthony.

"“We have a lot of respect for each other,” Rondo said of Anthony. “He competes every night and plays extremely hard and I think I do the same.”"

Having two stars on the same page is the first step to success.

Rondo may or may not be the star he used to be, but he clearly still has his facilitating touch. Anthony, meanwhile, had the best years of his career playing with team-first point guards, including a 2009 Western Conference Finals appearance with Chauncey Billups.

For what it’s worth, the Knicks played a trio of facilitating point guards in 2012-13—Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, and Pablo Prigioni—and Anthony won the scoring title.

Next: Con