Oh please....
You really aren't getting the point.
It wouldn't take Magic as long to learn to shoot better outside? And you know this how exactly? You are friends of Magic and know exactly how much he did or didn't work on trying to become a better shooter? You now how well he took to coaching for his outside shooting? You are familiar with just how much Magic had control over his body to adjust it to shoot better?
The game is different but outside shooting has always been a significant part of the game. The only difference is that with the advent of the three point shot becoming bigger weapon, players today have stepped out the extra 2-4 feet to get the three pointer. Outside shooting was very prevalent and important during the 70's and 80's. The difference is the player were shooting from 19-22 feet and not from 23 feet and beyond.
What I am trying to say is that even the best of players takes years and years to develop an outside shot if they started out with a poor outside shot. It took Magic a decade to do it. It could take Rondo just as long.
Because the incentives were different, hence the developmental path for players is different; there's no need to be friends with Magic. Magic had a competent enough middle-range game - and, more importantly, the skill-set he had was much more productive with those days rules.
The problem is that if it takes a decade for Rondo to improve his shot (to even bellow-average levels for a NBA guard - say to the point where Tony Parker was in his 4th season) he'll never be able to justify his current contract. If he was playing in the 80s, sure (assuming he could deal well with handchecking); in the current game, nope.
Nice, but you still are guessing that Magic would have developed faster now. In reality that's unproven supplication, a guess, nothing more. What is true however, is that it did take him 10 years to develop a shot. Given that he entered the game at 19, he was still in his prime when he got good at it.
Rondo is 23 and in his 4th year. If it takes him 9 years, or until the end of his next contract to become a good outside shooter, he will be 29, in his prime with a bunch of prime years left and because he will be a good outside shooter with all his other skills, will be a max level contract player.
So, as long as he continues to improve while maintaining the rest of his game and tightens his team defense, he will more than be worth his next contract.
