Signing Rondo to a Max deal at 29

[D.o.s.]

Another thing to consider is that athletes are competitive (stop the presses). And many professional athletes measure their stature against each other by the size of their deals--the same thing happens in civilian life, too.

If you don't think that players aren't keenly aware of who's making what on their team and around the league, then you're being completely self-delusional. These guys are all conditioned to believe that they're the best basketball players on the planet, and one way they can prove their ability relative to each other is in the size of their contract.

Again, I'm not saying that Rondo won't take a below-value deal, but there are a handful of fairly compelling reasons toward him wanting a max.

[TwinTower14]

I don't....I firmly believe you can't win a title with Rondo as your best player.  Now, if they are able to land a superstar to pair with him, then maybe I would but C's won't win a title if Rondo is the lone star on the team...

That's pretty much every team in the NBA...not just Rondo. Hence the forming of so many "Big 3's".

Right - If the C's have a new big 3 and Rondo is the best player of the 3, I don't think they would win.  He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy...

[clover]

Meanwhile, Max would have been thrilled to be signed to a Rondo deal at any age.

[D.o.s.]

Meanwhile, Max would have been thrilled to be signed to a Rondo deal at any age.

TP.

[BballTim]

 I want to get the feel for what you guys think about this now before he's come back. Just the general idea of signing are soon to be 29 year old slightly flawed, championship point guard coming off ACL injury. This single issue will go a long way in determining if we should explore these wild trade ideas.

  29 isn't that old. If he was 3-4 years older it would be a legitimate question.

This is the real tough thing to predict with Rondo.  You are right that 29 isn't too old.  But, it is just old enough that certain concerns come up that don't come up if he were 26.  Here are the two sides of the argument as I see it:

Con:
-His greatness largely comes from his athleticism, and it is inevitable that he will start losing that as he gets past 30

  I'd say it comes more from his vision, BBIQ and passing ability.

[BballTim]

I don't....I firmly believe you can't win a title with Rondo as your best player.  Now, if they are able to land a superstar to pair with him, then maybe I would but C's won't win a title if Rondo is the lone star on the team...

That's pretty much every team in the NBA...not just Rondo. Hence the forming of so many "Big 3's".

Right - If the C's have a new big 3 and Rondo is the best player of the 3, I don't think they would win.  He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy...

  They got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as their best player. I doubt there's any reason they couldn't go one game farther.

[TwinTower14]

I don't....I firmly believe you can't win a title with Rondo as your best player.  Now, if they are able to land a superstar to pair with him, then maybe I would but C's won't win a title if Rondo is the lone star on the team...

That's pretty much every team in the NBA...not just Rondo. Hence the forming of so many "Big 3's".

Right - If the C's have a new big 3 and Rondo is the best player of the 3, I don't think they would win.  He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy...

  They got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as their best player. I doubt there's any reason they couldn't go one game farther.

Rondo was their best player in 2010? I don't think so, KG and PP at that point were more important than him...

[BballTim]

I don't....I firmly believe you can't win a title with Rondo as your best player.  Now, if they are able to land a superstar to pair with him, then maybe I would but C's won't win a title if Rondo is the lone star on the team...

That's pretty much every team in the NBA...not just Rondo. Hence the forming of so many "Big 3's".

Right - If the C's have a new big 3 and Rondo is the best player of the 3, I don't think they would win.  He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy...

  They got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as their best player. I doubt there's any reason they couldn't go one game farther.

Rondo was their best player in 2010? I don't think so, KG and PP at that point were more important than him...

  Sure he was. KG was easily the least effective he ever was on the Celts that year because he was hobbled by he knee injury. PP was slowing down as well.

[D.o.s.]

There you have it. With Rondo as your best player, you won't win a title. With Rondo as your fourth best player, you'll win one in six.


End of debate. Story's over.

[Vermont Green]

I fear the Celtics will regret it if they sign Rondo for 5 years starting at $20M.  I believe that there is a chance (albeit slim) that he will improve his shot enough to become that type of player but he to date has not been a "max" player.

I think Rondo could make a run at titles as part of a big three if paired with someone like Houston (Harden/Howard) or maybe even Sac (Gay/Cousins).

If Rondo can get a Max deal from another team, I think we just have to pass.  It would be a big loss but having an underperforming max contract guy is the worst thing for a rebuilding team.

[Jailan34]

 I want to get the feel for what you guys think about this now before he's come back. Just the general idea of signing are soon to be 29 year old slightly flawed, championship point guard coming off ACL injury. This single issue will go a long way in determining if we should explore these wild trade ideas.

  29 isn't that old. If he was 3-4 years older it would be a legitimate question.

This is the real tough thing to predict with Rondo.  You are right that 29 isn't too old.  But, it is just old enough that certain concerns come up that don't come up if he were 26.  Here are the two sides of the argument as I see it:

Con:
-His greatness largely comes from his athleticism, and it is inevitable that he will start losing that as he gets past 30

  I'd say it comes more from his vision, BBIQ and passing ability.

Rondo's scoring ability is already limited. If his athleticism takes a big hit in the coming years he will be less and less able to score. He relies on blowing past defenders.

[BballTim]

I don't....I firmly believe you can't win a title with Rondo as your best player.  Now, if they are able to land a superstar to pair with him, then maybe I would but C's won't win a title if Rondo is the lone star on the team...

That's pretty much every team in the NBA...not just Rondo. Hence the forming of so many "Big 3's".

Right - If the C's have a new big 3 and Rondo is the best player of the 3, I don't think they would win.  He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy...

  They got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as their best player. I doubt there's any reason they couldn't go one game farther.

Rondo was their best player in 2010? I don't think so, KG and PP at that point were more important than him...

  FWIW, I don't think the most important player and the best player are always the same person. KG was our most important player in the 2012 playoffs because he was the only rotation-caliber player we had that was taller than 6'8. That doesn't make him the best player though.

[Eddie20]

There you have it. With Rondo as your best player, you won't win a title. With Rondo as your fourth best player, you'll win one in six.


End of debate. Story's over.

Not only that, but Rondo's game is predicated on dominating the ball. Put him off the ball and team's cheat off, which hurts spacing for teammates. So you need role specific players to play alongside Rondo. A lot of catch and shoot guys and a couple of athletic bigs that excel at lobs around the basket.

[kozlodoev]

Rondo's scoring ability is already limited. If his athleticism takes a big hit in the coming years he will be less and less able to score. He relies on blowing past defenders.

Actually, he mostly relies on deception and keeping defenders on their heels. At least in my mind.

[D.o.s.]

I don't....I firmly believe you can't win a title with Rondo as your best player.  Now, if they are able to land a superstar to pair with him, then maybe I would but C's won't win a title if Rondo is the lone star on the team...

That's pretty much every team in the NBA...not just Rondo. Hence the forming of so many "Big 3's".

Right - If the C's have a new big 3 and Rondo is the best player of the 3, I don't think they would win.  He needs to be the 2nd or 3rd guy...

  They got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as their best player. I doubt there's any reason they couldn't go one game farther.

Rondo was their best player in 2010? I don't think so, KG and PP at that point were more important than him...

  FWIW, I don't think the most important player and the best player are always the same person. KG was our most important player in the 2012 playoffs because he was the only rotation-caliber player we had that was taller than 6'8. That doesn't make him the best player though.

That's a good bit of important articulation there, Tim.