Is Rajon Rondo a Franchise Player?

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Rajon Rondo is one of the most important players to his team in the NBA.  I, like many others, believe he is the best point guard in the NBA.  But is Rondo a franchise player?  First, let's see what makes a franchise player.

Dependability-  to be a franchise player, you have to be able to stay healthy.  If you can't stay heathy, you are no help to your team.

Offensive ability-  this isn't football.  You need to play offense and defense in the NBA.  If you can't score, it's hard to be the guy for your team.

Defensive ability-  like I said before, this isn't football.  If you can't stop anybody on defense, you are a liability to your team.

Leadership-  this is a huge one.  If you can gather your troops in a big moment, players will overlook any of the other qualities to a degree.

Team player-  this attribute will make you a popular guy in the locker room.  If you pass the ball, you will always have a place in the league.

With that being said let's look how Rondo stacks up to this criteria:

Dependability:  B-
Rondo has had his fair share if injuries, but he has been healthy overall.  I have to see him when he returns to boost this grade.

Offensive ability:  C+
Rondo's shooting and overall offense has been below average for the most part of his career.  This has to be improved upon to make the jump into a higher ranking. Although he lacks a consistent jump shot to say the least, scoring isn't the only part of offense. Rondo's passing ability is unrivaled in today's NBA, with the exception of maybe Ricky Rubio. You have to go back into the history books to the Pete Maravich, John Stockton, and Magic Johnson, to see passers that exceed Rondo's skills in the passing category.

Defensive ability:  A-
Rondo is always top 5 in the league in steals.  This is a huge stat for point guards.  His ability to disrupt the other team's offense.

Leadership: D-
This is Rondo's biggest flaw of his game.  His locker room and on court meltdowns have been well documented.  With suspensions and fines for fighting players and pushing referees, this is a major problem with the departure of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, forcing Rondo to be a leader, not only by talking, but by example.

Team player:  A+
Rondo is the best passer in the league.  With multiple 20+ assists games, Rondo is on pace to be the greatest assist man since Magic Johnson.

VERDICT:

With these grades, I can't say that Rajon Rondo is a franchise player right now judging by my criteria. But, if he improves his jump shot, gets some counseling on his anger management to become a better leader and locker room member, Rajon may be able to add to his resume, "Face of the Boston Celtics Franchise".