Really.. noone saw this? Hou to call on Rondo?

[mmmmm]

I really don't see the point of worrying too much about it right now.    People get too caught up with trying to read between the lines of every single utterance that escapes Danny or Rondo's (or Brad's) lips, magnifying the significance of every breath tenfold.

It's not in the interest of _anyone_, not either side, to commit or show inclination one way or the other in advance.

Well, I don't think it's in the interest of the Celtics to just wait until next summer to worry about whether or not they can re-sign Rondo.  Because by then it'll be too late to get a good return for him if it turns out that he's interested in signing elsewhere.

If it turns out he's interested in signing somewhere then that's probably where they will send him.

They aren't going to be able to just arbitrarily trade him to just any team because pretty much no team - other than a contender who's current PG gets injured and is desperate for a top PG in order to make a playoff run that they've already bought in for - is going to trade a lot for Rondo if he won't sign an extension because they would just be purchasing the same 'dilemma' that you assert the Celtics are facing.

So they aren't likely to get more now ("a good return"), trading him to a place he doesn't want to go than they are later, trading him to a place he wants to go.

The only motivation for jumping the gun and trading him now, at a value discount anyway, would be for a target of opportunity.  If a specific trade is especially appealing to Danny and is only going to be available this summer.   Or the above mentioned scenario where a team has already committed to contending next year but finds themselves suddenly in need of a Rondo caliber player.

But both those are extremely unlikely.

The only path towards keeping Rondo long term runs through free agency (because that enables the longer contracts and possibly bigger money and possibly a no-trade clause).   And there is no real advantage in returned value for trading him now versus trading him next summer.

So, again, all signs indicate that it is not likely he will be extended OR traded this summer.   And that more likely things will happen next summer.

[hwangjini_1]

some very good posts in this thread so far. thanks.

one small thought to add to all of the above would be to think about the supposed unthinkable.

what if rondo simply walks after next year? not the best outcome, most certainly. but it is not totally devoid of positives either.

if rondo's salary comes off the books by him signing elsewhere and therefore no replacement salary is taken on through a trade, then that would free up an additional $13,000,000 in salary.

if ainge can also dump the final year of wallace's contract, which might be possible, then the celtics would be sufficiently below the cap to sign a substantial free agent. (of whom i am too busy and lazy to look up right now. sorry.)

so, i am not advocating the "walking-rondo" option, but i would not view it as the end of the boston celtics either. by this time next year, i expect the celtics will have gone through some more major changes and it is very difficult to anticipate the exact landscape right now.

[CoachBo]

True. A walking Rondo isn't without benefit.

But there are NO benefits to the Celtics to allow him to hit free agency. The only legitimate reason is if the trade offers are poor, as they likely will be since Rondo has not demonstrated much since the knee injury.

Which is why he should be given a solid extension offer. If he passes, then he should be shopped aggressively so the potential returns can be evaluated.

Allowing Rondo to play to free agency is a fan-centric move that makes little sense for the franchise.

[PhoSita]

I really don't see the point of worrying too much about it right now.    People get too caught up with trying to read between the lines of every single utterance that escapes Danny or Rondo's (or Brad's) lips, magnifying the significance of every breath tenfold.

It's not in the interest of _anyone_, not either side, to commit or show inclination one way or the other in advance.

Well, I don't think it's in the interest of the Celtics to just wait until next summer to worry about whether or not they can re-sign Rondo.  Because by then it'll be too late to get a good return for him if it turns out that he's interested in signing elsewhere.

If it turns out he's interested in signing somewhere then that's probably where they will send him.

They aren't going to be able to just arbitrarily trade him to just any team because pretty much no team - other than a contender who's current PG gets injured and is desperate for a top PG in order to make a playoff run that they've already bought in for - is going to trade a lot for Rondo if he won't sign an extension because they would just be purchasing the same 'dilemma' that you assert the Celtics are facing.

You're right that finding a trade partner that Rondo would actually want to sign with long term is a complicating factor.

However, I don't think it's as black and white as you say (they can only trade him to THE team Rondo wants to join).

Think back to when Chris Paul was traded.  Presumably, there were multiple teams he was willing to sign with long term.  He was probably initially very excited to get traded to the Lakers.  When that fell through, he got sent to the Clippers, and ended up re-signing there because the talent around him was very good (i.e. Blake Griffin).  It's not like New Orleans decided to trade Paul after he told them "I only want to go the Lakers, so figure out a deal with them."

Of course, Rondo is no Chris Paul, so it's probably true that teams would be less willing to gamble on him.  The Clippers were not 100% guaranteed to keep Paul, as I recall.

I think if the team we're talking about placed value on not just getting Rondo long term, but getting him for next season, they'd be more willing to give up value this summer instead of waiting.  An example is the Lakers, who will probably feel some pressure to win back some of the L.A. spotlight and placate an aging Kobe.

[mmmmm]

I really don't see the point of worrying too much about it right now.    People get too caught up with trying to read between the lines of every single utterance that escapes Danny or Rondo's (or Brad's) lips, magnifying the significance of every breath tenfold.

It's not in the interest of _anyone_, not either side, to commit or show inclination one way or the other in advance.

Well, I don't think it's in the interest of the Celtics to just wait until next summer to worry about whether or not they can re-sign Rondo.  Because by then it'll be too late to get a good return for him if it turns out that he's interested in signing elsewhere.

If it turns out he's interested in signing somewhere then that's probably where they will send him.

They aren't going to be able to just arbitrarily trade him to just any team because pretty much no team - other than a contender who's current PG gets injured and is desperate for a top PG in order to make a playoff run that they've already bought in for - is going to trade a lot for Rondo if he won't sign an extension because they would just be purchasing the same 'dilemma' that you assert the Celtics are facing.

You're right that finding a trade partner that Rondo would actually want to sign with long term is a complicating factor.

However, I don't think it's as black and white as you say (they can only trade him to THE team Rondo wants to join).

Think back to when Chris Paul was traded.  Presumably, there were multiple teams he was willing to sign with long term.  He was probably initially very excited to get traded to the Lakers.  When that fell through, he got sent to the Clippers, and ended up re-signing there because the talent around him was very good (i.e. Blake Griffin).  It's not like New Orleans decided to trade Paul after he told them "I only want to go the Lakers, so figure out a deal with them."

Of course, Rondo is no Chris Paul, so it's probably true that teams would be less willing to gamble on him.  The Clippers were not 100% guaranteed to keep Paul, as I recall.

I think if the team we're talking about placed value on not just getting Rondo long term, but getting him for next season, they'd be more willing to give up value this summer instead of waiting.  An example is the Lakers, who will probably feel some pressure to win back some of the L.A. spotlight and placate an aging Kobe.

I've already stated that there ARE scenarios in which Rondo would, indeed, be traded this summer, sans extension.  You aren't adding anything new here.

The thing is, such scenarios are always based on some odd parameters such as the idea that the Lakers would be willing to gamble on Rondo (sans extension) just to try to make one last push with Kobe.  Nevermind that they still have 9.7M committed to Nash next year ....

Again, this is about probability.  You can always come up with some concocted scenario in which Rondo gets traded this summer, if that is what makes you happy.   But it is far more likely that he is still here until at least next summer.  And still very likely well past that.

[LooseCannon]

True. A walking Rondo isn't without benefit.

But there are NO benefits to the Celtics to allow him to hit free agency. The only legitimate reason is if the trade offers are poor, as they likely will be since Rondo has not demonstrated much since the knee injury.

Which is why he should be given a solid extension offer. If he passes, then he should be shopped aggressively so the potential returns can be evaluated.

Allowing Rondo to play to free agency is a fan-centric move that makes little sense for the franchise.

It makes sense if you think Rondo wants way more than market value and you can sign him for less than the max by waiting and letting the free agent market set his price.  It also makes sense if you want to see him play a full season while healthy before committing more long-term money for him.

[BballTim]

But trading a star so that you can build a roster full of merely productive players is how you end up being a guaranteed long-term mediocrity.

Absolutely.  But you're setting up a false dichotomy here.

It's "maybe keep Rondo" (probably not keep Rondo, from where I'm sitting) in one hand, and "guaranteed to have at least a couple productive players for a while" in the other hand. 

Added bonus -- one or both of the players in the other hand could foreseeably end up being better than Rondo, if the trade package is truly good and Ainge makes a good pick.

  It's not really a false dichotomy because with one star there's a chance we can add to the team with trades and be good reasonably quickly, if you trade him away you're pretty much guaranteeing that you're going nowhere for a while.

... unless you trade him for players/picks that turn out to be better for the team in the aggregate. Which is certainly a possibility.

  Pretty unlikely though. In the nba a quarter's worth more than 3 dimes.

[BballTim]

As with most of the Rondo myth on this board, it's built on a series of false assumptions - not the least of which is this hilarious "Rondo would never leave us" thing that's going on here.

The man wants to get paid. That's obvious. It will trump any of this dream of loyalty that some of you have built into your false witness to a player that doesn't exist.

No guarantees whatsoever Rondo will resign here - which is why he should be presented with an ultimatum this summer: Extend at our terms, or we're going to trade you.

Making stuff up again.  Well played, Coach.

  Stick with what works, right?

[BballTim]

True. A walking Rondo isn't without benefit.

But there are NO benefits to the Celtics to allow him to hit free agency. The only legitimate reason is if the trade offers are poor, as they likely will be since Rondo has not demonstrated much since the knee injury.

Which is why he should be given a solid extension offer. If he passes, then he should be shopped aggressively so the potential returns can be evaluated.

Allowing Rondo to play to free agency is a fan-centric move that makes little sense for the franchise.

  Luckily Danny doesn't agree with your strategy: http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2014-01-23/boston-celtics-rajon-rondo-contract-extension-offer-danny-ainge-brad-stevens-stats-trade-rumors

  "?We did talk to Rondo about extending him,? Ainge admitted. ?But that?s all part of the negotiation that will happen again this summer and most likely the summer after."

[pokeKingCurtis]

True. A walking Rondo isn't without benefit.

But there are NO benefits to the Celtics to allow him to hit free agency. The only legitimate reason is if the trade offers are poor, as they likely will be since Rondo has not demonstrated much since the knee injury.

Which is why he should be given a solid extension offer. If he passes, then he should be shopped aggressively so the potential returns can be evaluated.

Allowing Rondo to play to free agency is a fan-centric move that makes little sense for the franchise.

So you are...not a fan?

[D.o.s.]

True. A walking Rondo isn't without benefit.

But there are NO benefits to the Celtics to allow him to hit free agency. The only legitimate reason is if the trade offers are poor, as they likely will be since Rondo has not demonstrated much since the knee injury.

Which is why he should be given a solid extension offer. If he passes, then he should be shopped aggressively so the potential returns can be evaluated.

Allowing Rondo to play to free agency is a fan-centric move that makes little sense for the franchise.

It's not a fan centric move, it's a player centric move. It makes zero sense for Rondo to sign an extension, so none of us really expect him to. QED.

[BballTim]

Hazarding a guess, I think Rondo wants Scott Skiles' record, and the consecutive double-digit assists record. Then a big payday. Then another ring.

  I'd guess the exact opposite. Rondo played through a dislocated elbow to try and win a playoff series after he had a ring. He gave up a shot at the double-digit assist record to stick up for a teammate.

[D.o.s.]

Hazarding a guess, I think Rondo wants Scott Skiles' record, and the consecutive double-digit assists record. Then a big payday. Then another ring.

  I'd guess the exact opposite. Rondo played through a dislocated elbow to try and win a playoff series after he had a ring. He gave up a shot at the double-digit assist record to stick up for a teammate.

Zero sum guessing game, then. Rondo's also passed up a whole bunch of open layups to stack his assist totals.

[BballTim]

Hazarding a guess, I think Rondo wants Scott Skiles' record, and the consecutive double-digit assists record. Then a big payday. Then another ring.

  I'd guess the exact opposite. Rondo played through a dislocated elbow to try and win a playoff series after he had a ring. He gave up a shot at the double-digit assist record to stick up for a teammate.

Zero sum guessing game, then. Rondo's also passed up a whole bunch of open layups to stack his assist totals.

  He does that on occasion, not much more than other unselfish players. Unless you're among the many who watch him drive and dish and call that an open layup. Apparently it confuses people when  the bigs who are near the rim don't jump like they're trying to block his shot after he's already passed the ball. That seems to happen a whole bunch of times.

[D.o.s.]