Agent: No deal for Rondo The agent for Rajon Rondo said late Monday that his client will not sign a contract extension with the Celtics, meaning the 23-year-old point guard will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, Yahoo! Sports reported. According to multiple reports, the Celtics and Rondo's representatives met recently to try to work out a deal but apparently are still far apart. Technically, the sides face a Friday deadline to come to an agreement on an extension that would keep Rondo off the free-agent market next summer, but agent Bill Duffy ruled it out. "We're not going to do an extension right now," Duffy told Yahoo! Sports. "The conversation has been cordial. We've been talking the last couple of weeks. There is a difference between the perception of him in their eyes and our eyes. With that being said, the focus is on Rajon to have a fantastic season and concentrate on winning a championship." Duffy said he is looking for a deal that would make Rondo one of the NBA's top five highest-paid point guards. According to Duffy, the Celtics "feel differently," Yahoo! Sports reported. An unnamed source told Boston sports radio station WEEI that the Celtics offered Rondo a five-year, $45 million extension (an average of $9 million per year), but Rondo is seeking a five-year deal worth between $55 million and $60 million (an average of $11 million to $12 million per year). Should Rondo become a restricted free agent, he could receive contract offers from other teams after the season. The Celtics would have the right to match any offer he received. Rondo is making $2.3 million this season in the last year of his rookie contract. He averaged 11.9 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game last season. The Celtics open their season Tuesday night against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=4598072 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Honestly I don't think Rondo is even worth $9 Million let alone the $12 Million he is seeking. He's a product of playing with a loaded starting line up. Thoughts?
I think this is just posturing by his agent. Eventually, Rondo has to come back down to Earth, and sign that deal, right??? I mean, last year, weren't there talks about how Rondo was hard to coach because he was so stubborn? Other teams had to have heard that....I don't see anybody offering him what he wants.
It looks like he will become a restricted free agent. If that's the case I see this becoming like the Ben Gordon situation where he turned down $10 Million and then no one offered him anything close to that. He was forced to re-sign for $5 million and had to play out of his mind.
How is this not a smart move by Rondo? It's going to be the best off season talent in NBA history. I hate Rondo and don't think he's worth that money but if I was him I would wait for the off season. Worse case scenario is that Boston signs him for that 9mil / year offer.
Usually with those types of players you see something negative from them on the court but I haven't seen much of that from Rondo. Is it possible they were trying to drive his price down by questioning his character?
That's good for NBA teams, but not so good for players. Basic supply and demand. An excess of supply on the market (NBA players) will drive down the overall price of the commodity (player contracts). He should take this deal now.
More teams under the cap then ever before. That is the most important thing. If only a couple of teams are under the cap like the last couple of years, you are looking at 3 potential suitors, as opposed to 10. I'd want to be a FA with all that money out there. Problem for Rondo is that he is a RFA next year, and teams won't want to tie up cap space by offering a deal until all the Unrestricted FAs sign deals. I can see where Rondo is coming from. He is 23, improved each year in the league, and is considered a great defender, and nearly averaged a triple double against Chicago last year in the 1st round. If he can continue to work on his jump shot, he could be worth that kind of money.
Maybe he just doesn't want to commit long-term to a team that was bad-mouthing him in the press all summer.
I love Rondo - and while a part of me thinks he is worth 10+ million a year - the other part of me realizes that he isn't a franchise player. And that's entirely too much money to spend on a guy who ought to be no better than a third option if you're going to contend.
Don't know if this is the reason, but I wouldn't blame him for wanting out of Boston with the way management has handled the situation.
Rondo is more vital to any chances of Boston winning a championship than KG and Ray Allen. The only person I would put over Rajon Rondo on that team is Paul Pierce. Even the Boston Brass knows this, there is a reason they traded every good talent on that team for KG except for Rondo and Minnesota asked for Rondo by name but were denied. Rondo proved his worth in the playoffs, with an off-and-on Paul Pierce and Allen, with no kg. The Celtics management are hoping they win another championship this year so that they can tell Rondo and his agent to go to hell, but that won't happen. The Celtics will either pay Rondo what he is due ( he is definitely in the top 6 NBA pg) or will get ready to sink back into mediocrity, because the relevant days of Allen, Kg and Pierce are numbered.
I realize that the whole free agent class of 2010 is not Point Guards. And that if you have handful of teams that are in need of a legit PG then Rondo is in a position to do just that. Again it doesn't make sense to sign now when teams are actually trying to shed bad contracts and free up money for the 2010 fiasco. It's going to come down to DAMN I couldn't get D'wade or the other top tier PG but there is a guy name Rondo who isn't half bad. What are we going to do with this money we have set aside for a PG? Yes supply and demand but it's not like there is a dozen PG's that are available with top talent.
Well you never know. Although rondo looks like a head case...he could be a descent guy. All because someone from the boston office said that he is hard to coach doesnt mean he really is. They could be saying that to lower his stock maybe.
They better lock him up. He nearly averaged a triple double in the playoffs. They already signed Garnett to a HORRIBLY HUGE extension thats going to hurt them for years, Rondo is the future of that team.
