Rajon Rondo agrees to join Sacramento Kings on 1-year deal

ByABC News
July 3, 2015, 7:31 PM

— -- The  Sacramento Kings and free-agent point guard Rajon Rondo have agreed to a one-year deal, sources told ESPN.com.

A source told ESPN.com the deal is worth $9.5 million.

In the opening hours of free agency, the Kings requested a meeting with Rondo and also offered what sources told ESPN.com was a mammoth four-year, $64 million offer to  Portland Trail Blazers free-agent swingman Wesley Matthews, who turned it down in favor of 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 a $19 million, three-year contract Friday, another person familiar with that deal said. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because contracts can't be completed until the moratorium on free agency ends Thursday.

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