Lakers guard Rajon Rondo out 6-8 weeks with broken thumb

The Lakers backcourt got a little thinner Sunday night, as Rajon Rondo suffered a broken thumb.

With Avery Bradley’s decision to opt-out of the season resumption in Orlando, the Los Angeles Lakers’ backcourt was already thin. During practice on Sunday night, according to multiple reports, Rajon Rondo suffered a broken right thumb and will be out 6-8 weeks.

Rondo is averaging 7.1 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game over 48 games (three starts) this season, over a career-low 20.5 minutes per contest. He also missed time for the Lakers last season after undergoing separate surgeries to fix a fractured third metacarpal in his right hand and a torn ligament in his right ring finger.

Since the NBA transaction window closed on June 30, the Lakers can’t sign anyone to replace Rondo. At this point, replacement players can only take the place of someone who opts out, as the Lakers did by signing Smith to replace Bradley, or tests positive for COVID-19.

Who steps up for the Lakers with Rajon Rondo out?

With Rondo out, Alex Caruso is first in line for a bigger role. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green and Quinn Cook are also in line for more minutes, and newly signed guards Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith will get bumped up the depth chart.

Rondo will miss the eight seeding games for the Lakers, and the start of the playoffs. But the expectation of a deep playoff run opens up the idea he’s not necessarily done for the season. If he were to return eight weeks from Monday (Sept. 7), that would be in the middle of the Western Conference semifinals.

Of course, it’s possible Rondo beats the 6-8 week time frame or at least returns to action on the earlier end of it. But as Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated points to, the Lakers would surely like to avoid one particular first-round playoff opponent–the Portland Trail Blazers.

Rondo is the only true, traditional point guard on Los Angeles’ roster, and his intangible value as someone with a lot of playoff experience will be missed. But his absence is not enough to derail the Lakers’ status as one of the favorites to win the NBA title when the season resumes.