Lakers: What A Rajon Rondo Trade Would Mean For Stanley Johnson's LA Future

A rumored deal to send the veteran point guard to Cleveland could have significant repercussions for the young power forward.

New Los Angeles Lakers forward Stanley Johnson may get to stick around a bit beyond the 10-day contract he signed with LA on Christmas Eve via hardship exemption. 

A rumored deal that would send little-used reserve point guard Rajon Rondo to the Cleveland Cavaliers as soon as tomorrow could have tremendous repercussions for Johnson's future with Los Angeles beyond his initial 10-day deal. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN floats the possibility that this quite-possible Rondo trade would net the Lakers either a player on a non-guaranteed contract or a future draft asset. 

In either case, moving on from Rondo would relieve the Lakers of one of their 15 guaranteed deals. This would free up the team to add Johnson as their 15th guaranteed contract after his 10-day agreement expires. That would be in both Johnson and the Lakers' best interests.

The 6'6" tweener forward was originally drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the eighth pick in the 2015 draft out of the University of Arizona. He also enjoyed stints with the New Orleans Pelicans and Toronto Raptors. This year, he played for the Chicago Bulls during the 2021 preseason before ultimately being waived. Chicago signed Johnson to a 10-day contract using a hardship exemption after the team was beset by coronavirus-related player absences, but almost immediately Johnson found himself placed in the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Los Angeles was the next team to take a flyer on Johnson, who had been playing with the team's G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, before joining the Bulls.

Johnson's modest averages of 7.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals a game, per 27.3 minutes, belie his impact on the other side of the ball. Already across just three games, Johnson has emerged as one of the team's best perimeter defenders, and clearly carries more value for this Lakers squad than little-used vets like Rondo, Kent Bazemore and DeAndre Jordan. Johnson could be a very important piece for LA going forward. The team is loaded with old, undersized wings. As a larger, hyper-athletic perimeter player who can convincingly guard shooting guards, small forwards and power forwards and has some upside, Johnson is the kind of midseason addition the Lakers should be targeting.

It would behoove LA to seek out further fringe NBA players to fulfill positions of need with further 10-day signings. Bazemore and Johnson don't seem to have much of a future with this roster.