What the Addition of Rondo Does for the Mavs

On December 18th , The Mavs acquired Rajon Rondo from the Boston Celtics. In return, the Celtics received Branden Wright , Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, a 2015 first round, and a 2016 second round draft pick.

Rondo's Defense and Passing Will Be Key
Let's take a look at the new starting lineup for the Dallas Mavericks average points per game:

1)Rajon Rondo: 8.3ppg
2)Monta Ellis: 20.6ppg
3)Chandler Parsons: 16.7ppg
4)Dirk Nowitski: 18.8ppg                        

5)Tyson Chandler: 10.8ppg

Combined the starting lineup ALONE averages 75.2 ppg. Add the league leader in assist to the mix, and you have a very dangerous team. As long as Rondo can work together with his new teammates, his role will mainly consist of two things: playing defense and moving the ball around.

Having a defensive rating of 22nd out of 30, the addition of Rondo will make them an overall better defensive team. Rondo has a career average of 1.9 steals per game, averaging 1.7 this year. This will greatly improve a perimeter defense  that consist of decent but not great defenders in Chandler Parsons and Monta Ellis. The Mavericks are already #1 in points per game, so improving on the defensive side make the Mavericks extremely tough to beat come playoff time. In addition, each player on the starting lineup has a respectable amount of playoff experience. Three of the five starters  have at least one championship ring. This will be very important as they are looking to make a deep playoff push.

Whether you are a Mavs fan , or just a NBA fan, this trade will make a crazy Western Conference even more intriguing to watch.