The writer lost all credibility with me, putting Westbrook at #3.
You know who Westbrook would be if he didn't play with Durant? Monta Ellis. That's right, I said Monta Ellis. An unconscionable chucker, who brings little else to the game.
CP3 and Parker, I'll concede are, at this very moment, a slight notch above Rondo. They are close enough in playmaking ability, that their obviously better ability to score, gives them the edge. Irving probably will be better shortly, but isn't at moment. Rose, I'd put on par with Rondo. Rose is immensely better as a scorer, Rondo is immensely better as a play maker.
Ultimately, the writer seems to place higher value on scoring ability (as do many). From the PG position, I do not.
Don't see a problem with Monta Ellis, but you can add defense + superior rebounding, and in the end, better passer too.
CP3 and Parker are more than a slight notch above Rondo at the moment. I'd say Irving is definitely better than Rondo at the moment. And Rose once again quite better than Rondo, but asterisk right now because of the ACL.
Don't see the problem with putting high value on scoring ability, and Rondo needs to do a lot more and better of the other things if he wants to be considered above any of the other players. He just isn't, in particular on how he's played this year, and the inconsistent effort he brought this year, and his deteriorated defense, which wasn't good as far as I'm concerned anyways.
Rondo does a lot more things a lot better than most of the other players on the list. Did you watch Curry play against the Celts the other night? I'm not talking about his poor shooting night, but the fact that when he's not scoring he does little if anything to help the team. Same with players like Westbrook. Rose isn't as bad but it's a similar situation. Same for Irving.
If those guys didn't shoot any more often than Rondo and gave you 8 or so fewer points a game they'd all be below average point guards. If they shot as often as Rondo and weren't better shooters or ft shooters than Rondo they'd be lucky to be starters. The difference between Rondo and those point guards in non-scoring skills is the difference between a top point guard and a below average player. It's that significant.
The writer puts Irving, who's the one of the best scoring point guards and best clutch scorers around pretty much neck and neck with Rondo. Figure out the difference in impact that you think Irving's scoring has versus Rondo's "being a liability". That's the magnitude of difference in Rondo's favor in the other aspects of their games.