What everyone seems to forget about Rajon Rondo

[Jammer]

In all the talk of what Rajon Rondo is worth,
those who are foolishly arguing to let him play another year
(he's under contract for 2010 for about $2 million)
before signing him to an extension never mention:

Next Summer, in 2010, there will be a ****load of teams with capspace
for free agents, unrestricted and restricted.

There won't be enough available free agents, since some will re-sign with
their current teams,
to satisfy the hunger of the number of teams with cap space.

So, someone will be able to give Rajon 5 years,
2011 $13 million
2012 $14 million
2013 $15 million
2014 $16 million
2015 $17 million

which the Celtics could of course, simply match, but it would just be easier
to extend Rajon this summer, with a slightly more favorable (to the Celtics)
contract like:
2011 $11 million + $2 million incentives
2012 $12 million + $2 million incentives
2013 $13 million + $2 million incentives
2014 $14 million + $2 million incentives
2015 $15 million + $2 million incentives

Since Rajon is going to get it anyway, whether the Celtics make him the offer
or his agent Bill Duffy gets an offer sheet in the summer of 2010;
the Celtics either can get him for less this summer
or be forced into a matching game next summer, which is the inept way to do it
with someone who is getting "star" dollars, and Rajon is absolutely a star,
one for the ages, clearly better than Cousy, despite Cousy's accolades.

[BillessuR6]

That is way too much for Rondo! 10 million per season is more than enough, IMO. You can`t give a player who can get exposed in the playoffs more than that...He looked like the worst player on the floor in a few games...

But I do agree with you that with so many teams clearing cap space for 2010 some 2nd tier FA`s will get overpaid...

[bceltic55]

As of now those numbers are too high. Danny will wait until next season and gauge the improvement of Rondo before giving him that big of a contract.

[UGA Hayes]

People have pretty short memories. How long did we look for a PG before we found Rondo? 10+ years.

[Frank Lucas]

Listen the Celtics do not, I repeat DO NOT have to do anything until after next season. Why should they give him and extentions when they pretty much hold all the cards in this situation. The only way the Cs loose out on Rondo is if he doesn't want to play here anymore or the Celtics don't want to pay him Max money. Either way this set up for a great year for Rondo. He's going to have his best season in 2009-2010 because he wants to get a big pay day. It would be foolish for the Cs to extend his contract right now. Maybe they will talk contract a week or so before the season starts when they know who will be on the 2009-2010 team. But to do something from now until October isn't a smart business move.

[jfs1000d]

Ohh god $13 million to a guy who can't shoot?

Don't worry about other teams. Next yearis a buyers' market. Rondo won't touch $13 million unless he comes back and has a bigtimeimprovement.

I say Rondo at 6 years $42 million is fair. Good player, but he is a liability some times. Stupid to give him money now. Wait another year unless you get a deal.

[MVP16]

Ohh god $13 million to a guy who can't shoot?

Don't worry about other teams. Next yearis a buyers' market. Rondo won't touch $13 million unless he comes back and has a bigtimeimprovement.

I say Rondo at 6 years $42 million is fair. Good player, but he is a liability some times. Stupid to give him money now. Wait another year unless you get a deal.

I would love to get Rondo at that price, but 6/42 isn't fair. The closest case to Rondo is Tony Parker. Both were starting pgs on championship teams. Both had concerns about their jumpshoting ability (although Parker was a little better in this area, but Rondo also made 2nd all defensive team). Both played 3 years in the league. Tony Parker got 6 years/66M. That's Rondo's value right now.

[chakdaddy]

That is a good point. Next year is going to be a huge seller's market once LeBron and everyone re-sign with their own teams. Wise to lock him up now before someone tries to overpay next year.

[pac213up]

If Rondo has the same type of season as this year you are looking at 10Mil / year easily. If he becomes a 15 ppg scorer on top of that you are looking at 12M / year easy. T.J Ford make 8.5M, Bibby makes 15M, ect.. The market for good PG's is competitive.

Some on this board are lost when it comes to Rondo because they are obsessed with shooting and points, not realizing that Doc is asking him to run plays and control the offense. Forget about the fact he rebounds and defends at a level only surpasses by CP3 in the PG role. Barkley, Thorpe, Van Gundy, Webber, Magic, Marc Jackson, Hollinger, ect.. have all anointed Rondo a Top 5 point guard. This is a consistent enough theme across a broad spectrum or coaches, players, & talent evaluators to suggest that it may actually be true!

[Frank Lucas]

That is a good point. Next year is going to be a huge seller's market once LeBron and everyone re-sign with their own teams. Wise to lock him up now before someone tries to overpay next year.

Ok before people starts to make statements about next season being a buyer market how many teams would be in the running for a PG? How many PG will be on the market in 2010 and where would Rondo rank in that group? I'm still say wait until next off-season too see what is going to happen, either way the Cs still hold all the cards. Also Ray Allen comes off the book next season too. It could be as simple as give Rajon the money that will be freed up by Ray Allen. All this talk about Rondo contract is a non-issue at this point IMO.

[pac213up]

Ohh god $13 million to a guy who can't shoot?

Don't worry about other teams. Next yearis a buyers' market. Rondo won't touch $13 million unless he comes back and has a bigtimeimprovement.

I say Rondo at 6 years $42 million is fair. Good player, but he is a liability some times. Stupid to give him money now. Wait another year unless you get a deal.

The guy just missed the ALL-Star game this year and with even the slightest improvement will likely make it next year. How many All-Star calibar PG's make 7mil a year? Do you have any clue how much even average PG's make in the NBA? Jamal Tinsley is due 7.2Mil next year!

[Dave_From_NB]

If I remember correctly, I believe Perkins signed an extension before necessary which worked for both he and the Celtics. Enough money to set Perk up for life, but a great bargain for the Celtics. If that kind of context could be applied to an extension for Rondo, I'm all for it. But he is a professional athlete, and his career effectiveness could evaporate with his next ankle turn. So unless its a real bargain for the Celtics, I think they should hold on extension until necessary for injury purposes, and also to see if Rondo is capable of playing entire good season, rather than a good playoff series. The Rondo we saw against the Bulls I can see max contract for, the Rondo we saw against the Magic, not so much.

[vct33]

The Rondo we saw against the Bulls I can see max contract for, the Rondo we saw against the Magic, not so much.

There aren't too many players like Dwight Howard in the league. Rondo suffers when his penetration is taken away. He would have had great series against Cleveland had we advanced.

[chakdaddy]

. Also Ray Allen comes off the book next season too. It could be as simple as give Rajon the money that will be freed up by Ray Allen.

That applies regardless of whether Rondo's extension/next contract/2010-11 salary is negotiated this summer or next.

The only downsides of extending now are
1. No chance to do any tricky cap space moves by delaying the re-signing - I think his cap hold will be something like 6, 7 million so we could gain 3 million or so that way. This is only useful if we let Ray go and I still think it would be tough to clear any significant room. Renegotiating something with Pierce might help too but I'm not sure about the timing.

2. The risk that he has a bad year and his value goes down, we wind up overpaying this year. I think this is greatly outweighed by the risk that value goes up next year; that risk is compounded by the fact that a lot of teams will have money burning a hole in their pocket when they miss out on LeBron and co.

Look at Al Jefferson, you think Minnesota could have gotten away with a less than max deal if Al had stayed healthy and become an RFA?

[Celtsfan1980]

I would try to sign him over the Summer. $9 million first season with 10% raises. A team option for the fourth season. 5 years total, with a player option in the last season. If he thinks he's worth more, I'd wait. Which teams are people referring to whom lacks a point guard and would be willing to spend that much money on Rondo? A lot of people on real gm feel Rondo looks better because of his teammates and if many GM's feel that way I don't see him getting a huge offer.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Which teams are people referring to whom lacks a point guard and would be willing to spend that much money on Rondo? A lot of people on real gm feel Rondo looks better because of his teammates and if many GM's feel that way I don't see him getting a huge offer.

The Knicks would throw a lot of money at Rondo, especially if they came up short on signing Lebron, D-Wade, Bosh, etc. Seeing Rondo play on D'Antoni's team would be pretty exciting.

[hickfromfrenchlick]

I simply cannot believe that a couple bad games against the Magic have made people seem to forget HOW FREAKING AWESOME this kid is.

Yes, his shooting isn't great. That doesn't stop him from being a great player. And I think he is becoming a better, more confident shooter. His upside is huge. And his downside is THIS -- what you see right now.

Even if we overpay him, he'll never be a "bust." He'll be a quick player, good creator and good defender. And the best rebounding guard in the league.

But if we let him go, it would be a mistake that would haunt this team for a decade. Does someone need to list all of the PG's that have played between DJ and RR? Is Sherman Douglas still available?

[SonicYouth34]

Rondo should get a contract like Devin Harris. Its like 5 years and $42 million

[jfs1000d]

Mauriece Williams, Devin Harris and Andre Miller are good comps. Rondo is anywhere from 7-9 million a year player. Anything more than that,then see ya. Tony Parker is a better player than Rondo and much more dangerous.

Rondo is not an all-star. He does great things and is a chemistry player, but he is not top 5. When you here people on TV saying he is IT'S hyperbole.

You won't here Stan Van Gundy,Hubie Brown or any other coaches saying he is top 5. They know. We lost the Orlando series because rondo couldn't come through when they game planned his weakness.

All-Star can't be exposed like that. Rondo can do some elite things,but let's not say he is an all-star. He has never averaged 12 ppg in the nba.

[jfs1000d]

One more thing, if we had Jose Calderon or Mike Bibby starting on our team would we have won the NBA title last year? How about Andre Miller or Jamal Tinsley?