Rondo wants All-Star money

[BballTim]

I'm curious what "all star money" is.  Devin Harris is an all-star caliber player playing on a fairly reasonable contract (5 years, roughly $42.6 million).  Jose' Calderson signed for 6 years, $50 million, I believe.  Neither one of those deals, in my opinion, would be a bad option.

Of course, we shouldn't give Rondo a max contract starting at roughly $13 - $13.5 million per season.  However, something that begins in the $7m - $9m range sounds reasonable.

I agree. I'd do a deal in that range right now.

What I wouldn't do is go eight digits without Rondo demonstrating that he will consistently shoot the basketball better from the perimeter, shoot the basketball better from the foul line, defend better and play with consistent effort every night.

  You can't tell a 23 year old player that you'll pay him when he's 25-29 years old based on his current production and flaws. If you don't think he'll be better than he is now when he's 2-3 years older and has 2-3 years more experience then don't pay him. When he does mature and round out his game whichever GM was smart enough to pay him based on his projected level of play will thank you profusely every time you cross paths.

[BballTim]

While there's still a chance that the two sides agree to an extension, a source close to the process told me it's unlikely. Rondo wants All-Star money and the Celtics aren't convinced he'll handle a five-year guaranteed deal well. It’s a classic maturity-vs.-talent battle that the Celtics may ultimately lose. - ESPN.com

It looking more and more like RR is going to test his worth as a restricted FA next summer. Should the Celtics look into locking him up and avoiding a Ben Gordon type situation? Is there incentive for the C's to lock him up now rather than waiting?

I would think the incentive could be that Rondo really looks like he's taken another step forward this pre season. He's playing better D, seeing the court really well, making steals, knowing when to take the ball to the hole, he's even starting to hit a pull up jumper. Really the only weak point is his free throw shooting. I would assume if he keeps getting better, his price will go up. So I would think it might be an advantage to sign him now, before he's an actual all-star.

I believe there is a Max for players signing there "after rookie" contract.

  Yes, but that Max is probably around $14-$15M a year.

You think? I could be wrong, but I thought Big Al was given a salary max. His contract is like so: 11, 12, 13 , 14 and 15

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/timberwolves.jsp

  He didn't get the max. Look at what Chris Paul and Deron Williams are making now.

[Who]

The max contract for Rondo is 25% of the cap. So for a cap between $50-55 million, a max contract would have a starting salary of $12.5 to $13.75 million. Then the 10.5% increases per year for the duration of the contract.

[Chris]

The max contract for Rondo is 25% of the cap. So for a cap between $50-55 million, a max contract would have a starting salary of $12.5 to $13.75 million. Then the 10.5% increases per year for the duration of the contract.

BTW, this is actually another reason why the C's have reason to wait.  Even if he does earn the Max next season, if the Cap goes down, like has been rumored, then it makes an even smaller gap compared to what he would be asking for now.

[JSD]

The max contract for Rondo is 25% of the cap. So for a cap between $50-55 million, a max contract would have a starting salary of $12.5 to $13.75 million. Then the 10.5% increases per year for the duration of the contract.

BTW, this is actually another reason why the C's have reason to wait.  Even if he does earn the Max next season, if the Cap goes down, like has been rumored, then it makes an even smaller gap compared to what he would be asking for now.

Hmm... that's a good (Tommy) point Chris.

[nickagneta]

Kind of ambiguous report in that they say All-Star money. All-Star money could be the previously discussed contract of 5 years/$50 million that Rondo said he would be willing to sign and that ALL OF US think is reasonable. Problem being is that maybe management and ownership are thinking more along the lines of 4 years/$32 million, which, as far as I am concerned would be low balling Rondo.

Until we hear what All-Star money really means, I think we are all just jumping to conclusions.

[HomeRunBaker]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game. I've stated this before but last season you had arguably two of the worst starting PGs in the game matched up in the NBA Finals (Fisher and Alston).....the year before you had Fisher again with 2nd year Rondo who wasn't nearly the player he is today.  Even when Alston was suspended for the playoff game last year the Magic simply plugged in 63-year old Anthony Johnson and the Magic rolled on to a blowout victory.  The PG position only needs to be managed by someone who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and can knock down open shots......i mean, Steve Blake is really all you need on this Celtics team and he won't cost what Rondo will (double his salary when you factor in luxury tax).

It appears that Ainge has identified this by not even being involved in serious negotiations with Rondo as he knows that both sides are worlds apart as to what a non-Chris Paul PG is worth in todays games.  My guess is that Rondo wants a 5/$70m deal while Ainge will only go 4/$30m.

I am fairly certain that Rajon Rondo's agent will be hard at work next summer and ultimately work out a sign-and-trade but i do not expect Rondo to be a Celtic past this season.  The numbers simply don't add up.

[Ian]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game. I've stated this before but last season you had arguably two of the worst starting PGs in the game matched up in the NBA Finals (Fisher and Alston).....the year before you had Fisher again with 2nd year Rondo who wasn't nearly the player he is today.  Even when Alston was suspended for the playoff game last year the Magic simply plugged in 63-year old Anthony Johnson and the Magic rolled on to a blowout victory.  The PG position only needs to be managed by someone who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and can knock down open shots.

Depends on your system. Try replacing Magic with Steve Blake or Anthony Johnson, or Stockton, or Billups. Those teams can deal with having weak PG's because one of them runs the triangle offense, which is based around having a PG who just shoots open shots, and the other had a great point-forward in Turkoglu who could handle the point guard duties.

[Chris]

I am fairly certain that Rajon Rondo's agent will be hard at work next summer and ultimately work out a sign-and-trade but i do not expect Rondo to be a Celtic past this season.  The numbers simply don't add up.

I know you have never been a fan of Rondo, but I am going to half-way agree with you on this.  I think it will depend completely on what happens this season.  If Rondo makes the jump, and becomes the consistent defender, a much more consistent offensive player, and shows an improvement in his jump shot, I think he will be back next summer on a near-max deal.  However, if all of those things do not happen, you are exactly right that a sign and trade will likely happen next summer. 

[BballTim]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game. I've stated this before but last season you had arguably two of the worst starting PGs in the game matched up in the NBA Finals (Fisher and Alston).....the year before you had Fisher again with 2nd year Rondo who wasn't nearly the player he is today.  Even when Alston was suspended for the playoff game last year the Magic simply plugged in 63-year old Anthony Johnson and the Magic rolled on to a blowout victory.  The PG position only needs to be managed by someone who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and can knock down open shots......i mean, Steve Blake is really all you need on this Celtics team and he won't cost what Rondo will (double his salary when you factor in luxury tax).

It appears that Ainge has identified this by not even being involved in serious negotiations with Rondo as he knows that both sides are worlds apart as to what a non-Chris Paul PG is worth in todays games.  My guess is that Rondo wants a 5/$70m deal while Ainge will only go 4/$30m.

I am fairly certain that Rajon Rondo's agent will be hard at work next summer and ultimately work out a sign-and-trade but i do not expect Rondo to be a Celtic past this season.  The numbers simply don't add up.

  With all the teams with cap space next year there'd be no reason to work out a sign and trade. All a team would have to do is go a little over what they think the Celts will match and get him for free.

[JSD]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game. I've stated this before but last season you had arguably two of the worst starting PGs in the game matched up in the NBA Finals (Fisher and Alston).....the year before you had Fisher again with 2nd year Rondo who wasn't nearly the player he is today.  Even when Alston was suspended for the playoff game last year the Magic simply plugged in 63-year old Anthony Johnson and the Magic rolled on to a blowout victory.  The PG position only needs to be managed by someone who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and can knock down open shots......i mean, Steve Blake is really all you need on this Celtics team and he won't cost what Rondo will (double his salary when you factor in luxury tax).

It appears that Ainge has identified this by not even being involved in serious negotiations with Rondo as he knows that both sides are worlds apart as to what a non-Chris Paul PG is worth in todays games.  My guess is that Rondo wants a 5/$70m deal while Ainge will only go 4/$30m.

I am fairly certain that Rajon Rondo's agent will be hard at work next summer and ultimately work out a sign-and-trade but i do not expect Rondo to be a Celtic past this season.  The numbers simply don't add up.

  With all the teams with cap space next year there'd be no reason to work out a sign and trade. All a team would have to do is go a little over what they think the Celts will match and get him for free.

But if the Celtics do match then that other team has essentially tied up $12 Mill+ a season for a week or two in the hottest FA market ever and get nothing out of it. That's a risk in itself right? A sign and trade might be a good option for a team that is looking to shake things up and maintain cap room.

[libermaniac]

I think the Aldridge signing is bad news for C's.  Rondo is WAY more valuable than LaMarcus, and LaMarcus is about to ink a 5 year $65-$70MM deal.

[BballTim]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game. I've stated this before but last season you had arguably two of the worst starting PGs in the game matched up in the NBA Finals (Fisher and Alston).....the year before you had Fisher again with 2nd year Rondo who wasn't nearly the player he is today.  Even when Alston was suspended for the playoff game last year the Magic simply plugged in 63-year old Anthony Johnson and the Magic rolled on to a blowout victory.  The PG position only needs to be managed by someone who doesn't make a lot of mistakes and can knock down open shots......i mean, Steve Blake is really all you need on this Celtics team and he won't cost what Rondo will (double his salary when you factor in luxury tax).

It appears that Ainge has identified this by not even being involved in serious negotiations with Rondo as he knows that both sides are worlds apart as to what a non-Chris Paul PG is worth in todays games.  My guess is that Rondo wants a 5/$70m deal while Ainge will only go 4/$30m.

I am fairly certain that Rajon Rondo's agent will be hard at work next summer and ultimately work out a sign-and-trade but i do not expect Rondo to be a Celtic past this season.  The numbers simply don't add up.

  With all the teams with cap space next year there'd be no reason to work out a sign and trade. All a team would have to do is go a little over what they think the Celts will match and get him for free.

But if the Celtics do match then that other team has essentially tied up $12 Mill+ a season for a week or two in the hottest FA market ever and get nothing out of it. That's a risk in itself right? A sign and trade might be a good option for a team that is looking to shake things up and maintain cap room.

  First of all nobody's going to sign Rondo until LeBron/Bosh/Wade/whoever else is already settled. Secondly I don't know that Danny would want to take back $12M or so in contracts. He'd still need to replace Rondo, so I doubt he'd do a sign and trade without getting back an acceptable alternative to Rondo.

[KCattheStripe]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game.

In 2008 The Celtics dominated the games Rondo played well. In 2007 Tony Parker was the Finals MVP. 2004 Chauncey won the Finals MVP.

[Chris]

The PG position in this league under the current rules is simply not a very important position in todays game.

In 2008 The Celtics dominated the games Rondo played well. In 2007 Tony Parker was the Finals MVP. 2004 Chauncey won the Finals MVP.

Yeah, honestly, I hate the argument that the PG position is not important anymore.  The fact is that it is no more or less important than any other position in todays NBA.  What is important is talent.  Whether it is at PG, SF, C, or somewhere in between, what wins in the NBA is elite talent.  So the question should not be "do they play X position?" it should be whether their talent level and production warrants the level of money they want.