Rajon Rondo was a key member of the Boston Celtics when they won the Championship in 2008 and was the final holdover still left on the team last year as Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had all moved on. Rondo was entering the final year of his five year $55 million contract last season and the prevailing wisdom was that both sides were interested in a contract extension but it never happened. Now it is being reported that Rondo turned down a five year extension offer worth $70 million from the Celtics, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
Rondo reportedly turned down the extension offer from the Celtics in the hopes that he would be able to earn himself a maximum deal after the season was over. After rejecting the offer Rondo was traded to the Dallas Mavericks mid-season but did not play well and things did not work out in his short stint with the team which decreased his value. Once considered one of the top point guards in the NBA, Rondo has started to build a reputation as a player that is extremely hard to coach which has made teams less willing to pay him for his skillset.
This offseason Rondo ended up signing a one year deal with the Sacramento Kings worth $11 million after reportedly not receiving all that much interest on the market. Now Rondo has an opportunity to increase his value once again and potentially earn the money he thought he would last year. The 29 year old point guard is off to a pretty good start this season as he is averaging 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists in the first four games. The assists are down from what he is used to but Rondo's PER (17.2) is above average so far. This is a huge season for Rondo as he will enter the offseason at age 30 and this might be his last opportunity to get a big contract.
The Celtics, on the other hand, seem to have benefited from Rondo rejecting the deal as their point guard situation is pretty solid. They are very high on young point guard Marcus Smart who has started the season pretty well and backup Isaiah Thomas has become a star since getting to Boston and is off to a tremendous start this season (24.3 PER.) Rondo will go down as a great Celtic but Boston may have dodged a bullet when he declined the extension offer as his career seems to be on the decline while the Celtics' current point guards have a very bright future.
