Pelicans’ Rajon Rondo will miss 4-6 weeks after sports hernia surgery, per report

Rajon Rondo will miss four to six weeks after undergoing sports hernia surgery, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, something that will leave the New Orleans Pelicans without their planned starting point guard on opening night.

Though Jrue Holiday signed a five-year, $126 million deal with the Pelicans this summer, New Orleans had envisioned him in a backcourt with Rondo this season. Instead, Holiday will likely pick back up most of those play-calling duties while playing next to someone like Ian Clark, E’Twaun Moore, or even Tony Allen.

Rondo should miss somewhere between 11 and 17 games, if his four-to-six week recovery projects are correct, returning either at the start of November or midway through it.

How Rondo could fit into the New Orleans lineup is fascinating — and whether it’s good or bad remains to be seen. He is a historically bad shooter, even if his three-point shooting has ticked up to the bare minimum in his past couple seasons. (Rondo averaged two attempts per game and hit 37 percent, although he’s still clearly a net negative on spacing.)

New Orleans has their own, strange spacing predicaments, namely because of the DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis pairing. But one thing Rondo can do exceptionally well is pass, and he’s particularly renown for finding big men in the post. The OCD way Rondo can run an offense could have actually been beneficial for New Orleans, since they’ll already be working with tight corners on that end of the floor.

Rondo’s condition means Holiday will garner much of the load, which is totally fine — he obviously has been a point guard most of his career. It does put pressure on Ian Clark and perhaps Frank Jackson behind him, though, for when Holiday goes to the bench.

Notably, this is also yet another injury for the Pelicans, a franchise that has seemingly been cursed with them over the past few years (and really, beyond even that).