It's time it was said - we have 4 future HOFers on this team

[greenpride32]

It depends on how he does after the big three are gone.  Sure there have been plenty of guys "on track" to be HOFers and for some reason or another (injury, not staying in shape, etc) derailed them.  But in the case of Rondo, you still have teams that leave him alone on the offensive end because leaving him unguarded is considered the lesser evil compared to the big three.  So Rondo is so great right now yet Wade is playing 5 feet off him last night (don't think any team ever did that with guy like Magic)?  It will be interesting in the coming years to see how he fares without the big three (and assuming the C's don't assemble a roster anywhere near as talented).

[BballTim]

It depends on how he does after the big three are gone.  Sure there have been plenty of guys "on track" to be HOFers and for some reason or another (injury, not staying in shape, etc) derailed them.  But in the case of Rondo, you still have teams that leave him alone on the offensive end because leaving him unguarded is considered the lesser evil compared to the big three.  So Rondo is so great right now yet Wade is playing 5 feet off him last night (don't think any team ever did that with guy like Magic)?  It will be interesting in the coming years to see how he fares without the big three (and assuming the C's don't assemble a roster anywhere near as talented).

  He's always put up better numbers when any or all of the big three are out and he's more the focal point of the offense, and he's always put up bigger numbers in the playoffs as well. I don't think anyone here's ever seen any evidence of lower production with other players around him.

[OmarSekou]

The OP said "barring injury".

I don't think you can say "barring injury" considering Rondo's style of play. He's relentless and reckless, and while I love him for that I don't see it as sustainable. He's on the floor a lot and takes serious contact. If he weren't elastic, I think he might've had a few season enders already. Elastic gets brittle over time.

But I wouldn't put it past him to break Stockon's assist record by a large margin and put himself in the hall regardless of what happens.

[Roy H.]

But I wouldn't put it past him to break Stockon's assist record by a large margin ...

I would be very surprised if this happened.  Stockton averaged between 12.0 and 14.5 assists per game for eight straight seasons (Rondo's career high is 11.7 apg) and played for 19 seasons, only missing 22 games in his entire career (Rondo has already missed nearly twice that many).

[Onslaught]

5 if we count Doc, who will get there someday for coaching.  But of course we're talking about Rondo here.

Rajon is not a HOFer today - he's probably still not quite there even if we get another ring and he gets Finals MVP this year.  But barring injury or some other unforeseen event, there is no question he'll make it to the Hall.  Rondo is still just 26, and could easily play at a high level for another 7-9 years.  If so, he's likely to finish with 12000+ points, 10000+ assists, 5000+ rebounds, and 2000+ steals.  He is already a 3x All-Star, 4x Defensive 1st or 2nd-teamer, with one All-NBA 3rd team to his credit.  Those numbers are all likely to grow over the years.

But it's the playoffs where he truly shines - Rondo is already in the Top 20 all-time for playoff assists, and in the top 5 for triple-doubles.  The all-time list for assists in a single playoff season reads Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson...Rajon Rondo. (then Magic, Stockton, and Magic again)  And he's climbing toward the top 10 this year as well.  He's also climbing the all-time playoff charts for steals, points, even rebounds.  And of course he's a winner - 1 ring, 1 conference championship, and at least an ECF this year - 11 series wins and counting so far.  The resume is slowly becoming undeniable.  Rondo will be in Springfield, and probably no later than his 2nd or 3rd ballot, if not 1st.

Years down the line, we'll be remembering these Celtics teams, and Rondo will be a much bigger part of the story than we sometimes give him credit for.  We've had our ups and downs with Rondo - he can be frustrating, even infuriating with inconsistency and seeming complacency at times.  But make no mistake - this is an all-time point guard wearing green right now.  Hats off to Rajon, and the brilliant career both ahead of and behind him.

I love Rondo, but I think the wear and tear is going to slow him down if he doesn't suffer a major injury. I think the test of whether he gets to the hall will be when he gets older and has to adapt his game due to declining physical skills. He's certainly on pace though.

This. I love the Kid. But he's got to get better in other areas for the long term. Guys who's main advantage is speed must adapt when that fails them.  And it will.

[BballTim]

5 if we count Doc, who will get there someday for coaching.  But of course we're talking about Rondo here.

Rajon is not a HOFer today - he's probably still not quite there even if we get another ring and he gets Finals MVP this year.  But barring injury or some other unforeseen event, there is no question he'll make it to the Hall.  Rondo is still just 26, and could easily play at a high level for another 7-9 years.  If so, he's likely to finish with 12000+ points, 10000+ assists, 5000+ rebounds, and 2000+ steals.  He is already a 3x All-Star, 4x Defensive 1st or 2nd-teamer, with one All-NBA 3rd team to his credit.  Those numbers are all likely to grow over the years.

But it's the playoffs where he truly shines - Rondo is already in the Top 20 all-time for playoff assists, and in the top 5 for triple-doubles.  The all-time list for assists in a single playoff season reads Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson...Rajon Rondo. (then Magic, Stockton, and Magic again)  And he's climbing toward the top 10 this year as well.  He's also climbing the all-time playoff charts for steals, points, even rebounds.  And of course he's a winner - 1 ring, 1 conference championship, and at least an ECF this year - 11 series wins and counting so far.  The resume is slowly becoming undeniable.  Rondo will be in Springfield, and probably no later than his 2nd or 3rd ballot, if not 1st.

Years down the line, we'll be remembering these Celtics teams, and Rondo will be a much bigger part of the story than we sometimes give him credit for.  We've had our ups and downs with Rondo - he can be frustrating, even infuriating with inconsistency and seeming complacency at times.  But make no mistake - this is an all-time point guard wearing green right now.  Hats off to Rajon, and the brilliant career both ahead of and behind him.

I love Rondo, but I think the wear and tear is going to slow him down if he doesn't suffer a major injury. I think the test of whether he gets to the hall will be when he gets older and has to adapt his game due to declining physical skills. He's certainly on pace though.

This. I love the Kid. But he's got to get better in other areas for the long term. Guys who's main advantage is speed must adapt when that fails them.  And it will.

  Rondo's main advantage isn't speed. He's got a great BBIQ, great vision and passing and ability to run an offense. Those skills won't fail him. Neither will his rebounding ability or his defense.

[KGs Knee]

Rondo must be on-track to be a HOF'er.

The last three games Mike Breen has been giving Rondo as much hype as LeBron.  It's literally been equal, if not more hype (it was especially noticeable in game 4).

[slamdunk]

Don't forget about JJJ.

[fairweatherfan]

The OP said "barring injury".

I don't think you can say "barring injury" considering Rondo's style of play. He's relentless and reckless, and while I love him for that I don't see it as sustainable. He's on the floor a lot and takes serious contact. If he weren't elastic, I think he might've had a few season enders already. Elastic gets brittle over time.

But I wouldn't put it past him to break Stockon's assist record by a large margin and put himself in the hall regardless of what happens.

He's not breaking Stockton's record, and neither is anybody else in the league right now.  It's going to take a special, special passer - a "volume assist" guy as it were - with insane durability in a perfect situation to beat Stockton.  Rondo's at best one of those.

But I'd be shocked if he didn't retire in the top 10 in all-time assists (again, barring serious injury).  He's already almost halfway there.  Depending on how guys like Paul, LeBron, and Deron do, I'd expect him to be anywhere from the 6th to the 10th player to crack 10k assists.  Could very well finish somewhere in the top 5.  He's got a shot at the top 10 in steals as well.

And I know it was a throwaway comment, but I'm surprised more people didn't respond to saying Doc would be a HOF coach down the road. 

[Fafnir]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_career_p.html

I was pretty shocked at how high he already is on the playoff assist chart. Only 5 more assists and he'll be 17th by himself, passing Hondo/Billups.

He's going to put up another top 8 or so assist playoff run this year two with at least two more games to go.

[BballTim]

It's too early to say.  Look at a guy like Tim Hardaway, who seemed destined to be a Hall of Famer.  Or Stephon Marbury, or Steve Francis.  Or Anfernee Hardaway.

If Rondo keeps playing like this on playoff teams for the next 7 to 10 years, he's a Hall of Famer.  However, there's so much that can happen in between.

  Give him another 5-6 playoff series in his career and he'll be close to top 4 all time in assists, comfortably in second place for triple doubles and one of 10 or so players with 1000 assists and 600 rebounds. In 7-10 more years of playoffs he'd probably come close to doubling his current totals, which would put him in very elite company.

  I think my math was off a bit. Give him 3 more series and he should be around 1000 assists/600 boards in the playoffs (8 people have done this) and probably another 4 series to pass Bird for 4th all time in playoff assists.