Rajon Rondo, Chandler Parsons and the demise of the 2014-15 Dallas Mavericks
After months of disappointment, this was the moment the Dallas Mavericks had waited for ever since trading for Rajon Rondo on Dec. 19 — finally unveiling Playoff Rondo at American Airlines Center — and now it appears that version of the four-time former All-Star point guard won’t show up, either.
Not 24 hours removed from his benching 34 seconds into the second half of a Game 2 loss to the rival Houston Rockets, the most mercurial of Mavericks is sidelined “indefinitely” with a back injury, according to the team. The news comes in coordination with the announcement that Dallas wing Chandler Parsons — the team’s max contract signing this past summer — will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Both revelations come as a deathblow to the Mavs, who were already facing the uphill battle of coming back from an 0-2 deficit against a second-seeded Rockets team that appears to be just hitting its stride.
With Parsons already absent in Game 2, the Rondo news comes as the bigger shock, since his benching appeared to result more from an absent-minded eight-second violation in the first half, an ill-advised technical foul for shoving James Harden to start the second and general poor performance since arriving in Dallas in mid-December than it did from a back injury he apparently suffered in the third quarter.
It was always a gamble for the Mavericks to acquire Rondo, who hasn’t been the same player since tearing his ACL in 2013, but it was a risk worth taking in hopes he returned to the All-NBA point guard with a championship pedigree who averaged 17.3 points, 11.9 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals the last time he appeared in the playoffs for the Boston Celtics. But alas that doesn’t appear to be the case, particularly after Rondo and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle have traded barbs over philosophical differences.
Meanwhile, Parsons missed the final six games of the regular season with a right knee injury, but returned to play 37 minutes during Saturday’s Game 1 loss to Houston. He was listed as inactive for Tuesday’s Game 2, and the Mavericks announced Wednesday that he is exploring season-ending surgery options.
Dallas now faces the nearly impossible task of beating the Rockets in four of their next five meetings with Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler and a 36-year-old Dirk Nowitzki as the lone starters left standing. With Harden playing at an MVP level and Dwight Howard submitting his most impressive performance of the season in Game 2, it appears the Rockets will enjoy an easier road to Round 2 than anyone anticipated.
How quickly the season unraveled for Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who just last week described the Rockets, save for Harden, as “not a very good team over there.” To think a series many projected to be among the most competitive may end in a sweep is unfathomable, and not even Houston GM Daryl Morey, even with all his dislike for Cuban, could be celebrating the demise of Playoff Rondo, Parsons — a former Rockets pick who spurned them over the summer — and the 2014-15 Dallas Mavericks.
It’s too early to tell just how far the ripple effects from Wednesday’s announcements will reach, but among them could be Rondo’s departure as a free agent in July and the end of Nowitzki’s last best chance at a second ring. Although, something tells me we haven’t heard the last from Cuban.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
