A Rajon Rondo trade might not be such a sure thing after all. While the latest interviews from Rondo and Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge suggest a new contract will happen in the summer, some still believe Rondo getting dealt before the February deadline is inevitable.
Rondo and Ainge are saying all the right things. It could be a smokescreen, it could be just putting on a smiling face to the public. But if you believe their comments made at media day this week are genuine, then Rondo appears to be staying in Boston for the foreseeable future.
When healthy, Rondo is one of the top five point guards in the league. If Ainge is sure Rondo will sign a new contract in July, and unless Ainge is committed to a full top-to-bottom rebuild, he has no reason to trade the four-time All-Star.
There's also this: Ainge is unlikely to receive anything near the value of what Rondo is worth. Rondo won't sign an extension because of the financial incentive of becoming a free agent, which makes teams wary about paying a hefty price for him. Then, if Boston is trying to trade him, why would any team mortgage their future on a player - one who could walk in the summer - when that player is likely to be available on the market after the season?
Still, the overwhelming thought appears to be Rondo will be in a new uniform by the end of February. Boston did seemingly draft Rondo's heir with No. 6 pick Smart, and it's hard - at least right now - to see a Rondo-Smart backcourt being effective.
"I think he will be traded," Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote Wednesday. "The team is clearly rebuilding - they even have Rondo's replacement on the roster in Marcus Smart - and I think they'll move him for young assets and first-round picks. Rondo is turning 29 years old in February, so he's ready to win now and I can't see him re-signing with Boston when he hits unrestricted free agency next summer.
"I think he would prefer to go somewhere he can win right away, rather than waiting for all of the Celtics' young guys to develop. ... Moving him is the best option because they can get something back for him rather than losing him for nothing next summer."
My money is on Rondo playing out the first part of the season and Ainge seeing how it goes. If the team does well, he stays. If the team struggles early on, Ainge trades Rondo for whatever he can get.
