While it doesn't come as a surprise, the Boston Celtics reportedly try to give star Rajon Rondo a contract extension. The Collective Bargaining Agreement allows Rondo to make more money by signing with a team as a free agent, which is why some teams might be hesitant to trade for him on an expiring contract and risk losing him in the summer.
Rondo has every incentive to play out his contract and become a free agent in July, regardless of whether Boston trades him. While he's expected not to sign a new contract until his old one expires, it's another question of whether Rondo will decide to test the free agency market.
Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders reported the Celtics did at least offer Rondo an extension on the off chance he took it.
"It just doesn't make sense to sign an extension, which is why recent extension talks between Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics did not go beyond the preliminary stages," Koutroupis wrote Tuesday. "The Celtics knew that there was no chance he was going to agree to anything they had to offer, but wanted to make their interest in keeping him long-term known as they cleaned house around him, letting Doc Rivers take over the Los Angeles Clippers and trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets."
Because Rondo has no reason to agree to a new deal now, potential trade partners for him are likely wary to risk giving Boston a boatload of assets for a player who could decide to walk in July.
Celtics president Danny Ainge said Sunday Rondo had told him he planned to re-sign in Boston this summer, which might alleviate some of Ainge's concern about losing Rondo for nothing in return after the season. If Ainge was just putting up a smokescreen, though, he could play out the season until the February trade deadline and hope a team is at least willing to pay the price to essentially rent Rondo for half a season.
