Sources: Rondo, Kings agree to one-year deal
The Sacramento Kings and free-agent point guard Rajon Rondo have agreed to a one-year deal worth $9.5 million, sources told ESPN.com.
In the opening hours of free agency Wednesday, the Kings requested a meeting with Rondo and also offered what sources told ESPN.com was a mammoth four-year, $64 million deal to Portland Trail Blazers free-agent swingman Wesley Matthews. Matthews, though, ultimately reached a verbal agreement on a four-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
Rondo’s addition comes hours after the Kings and shooting guard Marco Belinelli agreed to what sources said is a $19 million, three-year contract.
Rondo’s brief stint in Dallas was a disaster after he was the centerpiece in a blockbuster trade in December with the Boston Celtics. His most memorable moments in a Mavs uniform were a heated on-court exchange with coach Rick Carlisle that led to a one-game suspension in February and being pulled after picking up two quick fouls and a technical foul in the first minute of the second half of his final game, a Game 2 first-round playoff loss to the Houston Rockets.
The Mavs announced the next day that Rondo left the team due to a previously undisclosed back injury, which sources later confirmed was a cover-up for a mutual decision for Rondo and the team to part ways.
Rondo had a much more successful run with the Celtics, helping Boston win one title and advance to another NBA Finals while spending the first eight and a half years of his career with the franchise. Rondo was a four-time All-Star and a four-time All-Defensive team selection and won two assists title during his Celtics tenure.
The 29-year-old Rondo, who has career averages of 10.8 points, 8.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game, has not regained his previous explosiveness after suffering a serious knee injury in January 2013. He has never developed a perimeter jumper, shooting only 26.3 percent from 3-point range for his career.
ESPN.com’s Tim MacMahon and Marc Stein and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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