The Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings are expected to pursue Boston Celtics star Rajon Rondo before the February trade deadline. Grantland's Zach Lowe pegged both Houston and Sacramento as two teams who might be willing to spend big for the point guard, especially once his price tag drops as it gets closer to the February deadline.
Will he stay or will he go? All eyes will be on Rondo come February. While Lowe seems to think Boston will end up keeping Rondo, he named Houston and Sacramento as two teams who have a chance to land him.
"If Boston wants a big haul, it has to hope a potential Rondo suitor feels some unexpected desperation early in the season. Houston is under pressure to win now, and if it starts slowly, (general manager) Daryl Morey might swallow hard and meet Boston in the middle," Lowe wrote Tuesday. "Rondo and James Harden make for an awkward fit, but talent tends to work itself out, and the Rockets are confident they can re-sign starts once they get them.
"Sacramento has outsize expectations after Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins won gold with Team USA, and any owner with outsize expectations is an explosive wild card. ... Depending on what happens with Rudy Gay, a Rondo pal, the Kings might not have enough cap space to chase Rondo in free agency - building an urgency to trade for him now."
Publically, both Boston and Rondo are saying all the right things. If you were to take their words at face value, then it appears Rondo is going to sign a long-term max contract in July with Boston.
Celtics president Danny Ainge, though, could - and perhaps likely is - just creating a smokescreen to drive up the price for the All-Star. What makes it tricky for a team wanting to trade for Rondo is there's no guarantee he'll re-sign with them in the summer, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
