Rondo and Celtics Agree to Extension

[the_Bird]

As much as I love Ray Allen, I'm committing dollars to Perk before they go to Ray.  Is that blaspemous?  Ray Allen may remain as a Reggie Miller-type for a long time, but frankly it's a lot easier to find (or draft) a good starting SG than someone who can fill Perk's shoes.  There just aren't that many good, young, IMPROVING centers who can anchor a D like Perk does.  

Predicated on Perk's shoulder not giving out again.

[EJPLAYA]

I know we all arent sure if he Rondo can be that kind of guy, but down the line when the big three's contracts are expiring does anybody here think that the possibility of playing with Rondo would draw in free agents, knowing that he is going to get them the ball in good position.  

Kind of like the wide receivers that flock to Tom Brady, such as Moss, Stallworth, Gaffney, Galloway.  

Players these days go places for 2 reasons only.

1- They are a vet and want to win a championship so they go to a stocked team that they  think they can push over the edge.  (See Sheed and Daniels)

2- Money.

Once all those expiring contracts go away we will definitely have the 2nd. No one is going to come here though to have the "privilege" of Rondo passing them the ball… We better hope a couple people will want our money and we draft 2-3 studs in the process. That is the only way we will re-tool.

[Chris]

I think it will be interesting to see what this does mean for guys like Ray, as well as Perk (who I have already been saying will likely be shopped this summer, unless he is willing to take much less than market value).
It also will be interesting to see how this contract is structured.  Will it be front loaded, in order to maximize cap space in a few years when the Big 3 are coming off the books, or will it be a more traditional contract, with increasing salaries each year.  The more traditional contract would likely save the team significant money, because I would imagine the team will be less likely to be in the luxury tax at the end of the contract, but will definitely be in it for the first few years. 

I think you need to keep Perk around as long as you don't overpay, though someone may come in and do just that. Ray to me is the most expendable though he's also a guy who may be able to last as long as Reggie Miller did -- and still be effective.

Well, my whole argument with Perk is that he will almost certainly get a lot of money in the summer of 2011.  Big men ALWAYS get overpaid.

Unfortunately, if he does not dramatically improve his offense, he simply would not be a good investment by the C's for much more than the MLE slot (so up to maybe $7 million per year).  He is most effective as a role player on a good team, and as the C's will likely be looking to rebuild, they need to save some of the higher salary slots for stars.  

So the C's will likely try to negotiate an extension next summer, in the 5 year, $30-35 million range.  If he is not willing to take that (and if he did take that, he would be taking a home town discount), I think they will start offering him around the league to see if they can get a good young player or high draft pick for him, and then go ahead with Wallace as the starter next year.

As for Ray, I think it is all going to be about the money as well.  If he is willing to come back for half of what he makes right now, I think it would be a great investment.  If he is looking to make much more than that however, the C's will likely let him walk...or perhaps work out a sign and trade.

[Fafnir]

I know we all arent sure if he Rondo can be that kind of guy, but down the line when the big three's contracts are expiring does anybody here think that the possibility of playing with Rondo would draw in free agents, knowing that he is going to get them the ball in good position.  

Kind of like the wide receivers that flock to Tom Brady, such as Moss, Stallworth, Gaffney, Galloway.  

Players these days go places for 2 reasons only.

1- They are a vet and want to win a championship so they go to a stocked team that they  think they can push over the edge.  (See Sheed and Daniels)

2- Money.

Once all those expiring contracts go away we will definitely have the 2nd. No one is going to come here though to have the "privilege" of Rondo passing them the ball… We better hope a couple people will want our money and we draft 2-3 studs in the process. That is the only way we will re-tool.

You have to consider the third option of wanting to be "the man" for a franchise. Joe Johnson left the Suns because of that, well that and the owner.

[Chris]

I know we all arent sure if he Rondo can be that kind of guy, but down the line when the big three's contracts are expiring does anybody here think that the possibility of playing with Rondo would draw in free agents, knowing that he is going to get them the ball in good position.  

Kind of like the wide receivers that flock to Tom Brady, such as Moss, Stallworth, Gaffney, Galloway.  

Players these days go places for 2 reasons only.

1- They are a vet and want to win a championship so they go to a stocked team that they  think they can push over the edge.  (See Sheed and Daniels)

2- Money.

Once all those expiring contracts go away we will definitely have the 2nd. No one is going to come here though to have the "privilege" of Rondo passing them the ball… We better hope a couple people will want our money and we draft 2-3 studs in the process. That is the only way we will re-tool.

You have to consider the third option of wanting to be "the man" for a franchise. Joe Johnson left the Suns because of that, well that and the owner.

And the cash.  Don't forget the cash. 

I don't believe the Suns were interested in giving Johnson the kind of money he got in Atlanta...otherwise, they just would have matched it.

[EJPLAYA]

I know we all arent sure if he Rondo can be that kind of guy, but down the line when the big three's contracts are expiring does anybody here think that the possibility of playing with Rondo would draw in free agents, knowing that he is going to get them the ball in good position.  

Kind of like the wide receivers that flock to Tom Brady, such as Moss, Stallworth, Gaffney, Galloway.  

Players these days go places for 2 reasons only.

1- They are a vet and want to win a championship so they go to a stocked team that they  think they can push over the edge.  (See Sheed and Daniels)

2- Money.

Once all those expiring contracts go away we will definitely have the 2nd. No one is going to come here though to have the "privilege" of Rondo passing them the ball… We better hope a couple people will want our money and we draft 2-3 studs in the process. That is the only way we will re-tool.

You have to consider the third option of wanting to be "the man" for a franchise. Joe Johnson left the Suns because of that, well that and the owner.

He didn't go though without the payday! He signed for his big contract and was traded to the Hawks. It wasn't like he took a small contract to go be the man somewhere. I guess we can include that as a subset of #2!

[Fafnir]

I know we all arent sure if he Rondo can be that kind of guy, but down the line when the big three's contracts are expiring does anybody here think that the possibility of playing with Rondo would draw in free agents, knowing that he is going to get them the ball in good position.  

Kind of like the wide receivers that flock to Tom Brady, such as Moss, Stallworth, Gaffney, Galloway.  

Players these days go places for 2 reasons only.

1- They are a vet and want to win a championship so they go to a stocked team that they  think they can push over the edge.  (See Sheed and Daniels)

2- Money.

Once all those expiring contracts go away we will definitely have the 2nd. No one is going to come here though to have the "privilege" of Rondo passing them the ball… We better hope a couple people will want our money and we draft 2-3 studs in the process. That is the only way we will re-tool.

You have to consider the third option of wanting to be "the man" for a franchise. Joe Johnson left the Suns because of that, well that and the owner.

And the cash.  Don't forget the cash. 

I don't believe the Suns were interested in giving Johnson the kind of money he got in Atlanta...otherwise, they just would have matched it.

Team management was going to match the deal. Joe Johnson asked them not to because he wanted to go to the Hawks.

[footey]

I'm happy the deal got done, but I think the Celtics got their bluff called.  Not only is the cap going down a good amount this year, and will likely go down the year after that too, but Rondo is still missing some glaring parts to his game. 

Think of it this way:  Rondo has not made much money so far and is one injury away from not getting that type of contract that will make him "set".  He should have felt the pressure more than Celtics. 

I love Rondo's game, but just wait until the Celtics play a real playoff series (i.e. Orlando, Lakers, Spurs, etc).  Rondo dominated the last two regular seasons but was often times mitigated in the playoffs due to his lack of a shot.  It WILL happen again. 

Again, I'm happy about the signing so that everyone can entirely focus on banner 18.

Well, let me say this, no matter what happened this year, and where the salary cap goes, Rondo was getting a deal at least this big on the open market next summer.  I have absolutely no doubt about that.  A team like the Knicks were going to give him an offer sheet at least this big, when they miss out on the bigger fish, just to save face with fans.  So the C's paid market value...and probably a little below actually.

To me the question all along was not whether the C's would overpay him, it was whether they wanted to pay him at all (assuming he was not coming back for an MLE type deal).  I was not convinced (and still am not) that the C's feel he is a future building block for this franchise.  I think they still have some big questions about him. 

However, I think they decided to hedge their bets, and try to sign Rondo now at a fair price, knowing the teams will still be there for a trade in a year or two, if he still doesn't have them convinced.  Basically, they signed him as an asset, with the potential to be a building block.

I agree 100% with Chris' analysis. Tommy point.

[Kuberski33]

Chris, I think the long term game plan here is to keep the window open as long as possible post Pierce and KG.  Perk's vital for his defense.  He's not the only element, as we saw last spring, but remove him from the picture and you're nowhere near as good -- and defense puts you in a position to win titles.

That's why I think you try to keep him.  Replacing him may be a lot harder than paying him -- as long as the price isn't ridiculous.

If it gets ridiculous then you have to go in another direction obviously.  But to me he proved his value last spring as I think he laid to rest any sentiment that KG's presence may be hiding his weaknesses.

[RAcker]

There is another thread on CB today about Dwight Howard improving his FT shooting and Rondo not.  With this nice contract, this is what Rondo can expect to hear a lot of and I think it's fair.  He's now going to get paid and the fans are going to expect more and more each year.

Perk has come up in this thread as well and it will be the same situation for him.  Expectations will rise in concert with the money Perk earns in the future.  It just comes with the territory. Some guys wilt under that pressure, but Rondo and Perk seem quite aware of their strengths and their weaknesses.  

I hope we get to see the both of them in green for a long time so that we can watch what they are like as the Big 3 slip into retirement.  Hopefully, they will have a couple more rings on their fingers by then.

[scurvmeister]

from ESPN
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=4615768

"There's always the possibility that there would be more money in a free-agent situation, even though it's harder for a restricted free agent," Duffy said. "But because Rajon is in such an ideal situation, it was my responsibility to promote continuity."

What's this, an agent who's not focused only on money?? 

[fairweatherfan]

from ESPN
http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=4615768

"There's always the possibility that there would be more money in a free-agent situation, even though it's harder for a restricted free agent," Duffy said. "But because Rajon is in such an ideal situation, it was my responsibility to promote continuity."

What's this, an agent who's not focused only on money?? 

An agent who's interested in defending whatever decision has already been made.  Trust me, he's focused on money, but I'm sure Rondo and Duffy knows that the way he plays, it's a lot less risky to take the guaranteed 55 mill now rather than risk it to get maybe 5-10 million more in the offseason.

[Chris]

Chris, I think the long term game plan here is to keep the window open as long as possible post Pierce and KG.  Perk's vital for his defense.  He's not the only element, as we saw last spring, but remove him from the picture and you're nowhere near as good -- and defense puts you in a position to win titles.

That's why I think you try to keep him.  Replacing him may be a lot harder than paying him -- as long as the price isn't ridiculous.

If it gets ridiculous then you have to go in another direction obviously.  But to me he proved his value last spring as I think he laid to rest any sentiment that KG's presence may be hiding his weaknesses.

Oh, I completely agree with this.  The problem is, I think the price IS going to be ridiculous.  I think Perk is going to be asking for a contract similar to other young big men, such as Chandler, Nene, and Sammy Dalembert got.  So basically, $10+ million per year.  And if that is the case, I think the C's are going to make a quick decision next summer (well not that quick, because I think they are already preparing for it), and start seeing the value.

Now, if they cannot get some legit value for him (basically, someone who they think is going to be a legit star), then they will not have a huge problem with letting him play out the year, trying for one last championship with this group, and then letting him walk.  But I think they will absolutely shop him if he is not willing to take significantly less than he can get on the open market.

[Rida]

regarding perk I can see Ray Allen getting 8-9 million dollar 2 year extension in the offseason and pierce getting a 3 year 30 million dollar extention after he opts out this summer so we can maintain our cap number and sign perk for around 9-11 per year

[Cman]

Oh, I completely agree with this.  The problem is, I think the price IS going to be ridiculous.  I think Perk is going to be asking for a contract similar to other young big men, such as Chandler, Nene, and Sammy Dalembert got.  So basically, $10+ million per year.  And if that is the case, I think the C's are going to make a quick decision next summer (well not that quick, because I think they are already preparing for it), and start seeing the value.

Now, if they cannot get some legit value for him (basically, someone who they think is going to be a legit star), then they will not have a huge problem with letting him play out the year, trying for one last championship with this group, and then letting him walk.  But I think they will absolutely shop him if he is not willing to take significantly less than he can get on the open market.

I think the Celtics would be lucky to get Perk for $10M/year.  But the Celtics will be okay salary-wise if they can get Perk, Pierce, Ray for about $10M/year each.