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Rondo: My accomplishments last season were 'swept under the rug'

Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Since leaving Boston, point guard Rajon Rondo's stock has plummeted.

Once an All-Star with a championship pedigree, he flamed out in Dallas and then inked one-year deals with the perpetually sinking ship that is Sacramento. Even after leading the league in assists, Rondo still had to settle for a short deal with Chicago this summer.

Rondo feels slept on, as he relayed to Vincent Goodwill of Slam Magazine.

"I set individual goals that I accomplished last year and I was in Sacramento," Rondo says. "If I was on TV and I was in the East, I’m pretty sure leading the league in assists wouldn’t be swept under the rug so much."

Despite playing on a moribund Kings squad, Rondo did manage to rack up five more assists than Russell Westbrook to top the league, despite Rondo playing fewer games. On a per-game basis, Rondo had 1.4 more dimes than Westbrook.

But playing in the West likely isn't why Rondo's stats were "swept under the rug."

The Kings weren't world-beaters on offense with him racking up assists. The team posted an offensive rating of 103.3 with Rondo on the court last season - virtually identical to its 103.2 rating when he sat.

More telling is how easily Sacramento allowed Rondo to walk in free agency despite not having any reliable options at point guard. The Kings opted to stand pat with Darren Collison and Ty Lawson instead of fighting to re-sign Rondo. The Kings also posted a miserable 33-49 record while missing the playoffs for the 10th straight year last season.

That seems at least an equally plausible explanation for why Rondo's work in Sacramento didn't receive more praise.

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