What do others think? Does Rondo have most of the leverage or Ainge?
Will Davis need to be sacrificed in an effort to free up more salary for Rondo? I think Ainge must really push the sign-and-trade option on Davis. Ideally, a team steps forward and makes a major raise in Davis' salary this season so Ainge can better gauge his decision here.
In my opinion, you don't wait on this. Decide right now, trade Ray or trade Davis. It can't be anymore simpler. Ainge has little choice on the matter. Lose Rondo to another team, and face a return to mediocrity and lottery placement. I mean not next season or perhaps the next... But, soon. Boston has nothing in young talent that represents the future besides Rondo and to a lesser extent Perkins. Hence, why it becomes imperative to keep Rondo.
Unless someone else breaks this down a different way opposite of this article. I'm resolved to this opinion.
No matter what the C’s do to shore up their bench this summer, they are going to be knee-deep in luxury tax debt throughout the coming season. That appears unavoidable, and any moves between now and the summer of 2010 will have to be made on the cheap.
After that, however, the landscape will change a little bit.
Everything changes in 2010. Ray Allen, who turns 35 next summer, is a free agent, and Paul Pierce, who will be 32, has an early-termination option as well. Allen may very well play out the remainder of his contract in Boston and then re-sign to finish his career here, but if he does, it’ll be on the cheap as he nears the back end of his career. The vast majority of his $19.77 million will come off the books, and the Celtics will have plenty of cash to spend.
A large chunk of it should be committed, as soon as possible, to locking down Rajon Rondo.
Rondo becomes a restricted free agent at the end of next season, entering a titanic free agent class that will include LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. If the Celtics want to save Rondo from entering the mayhem of next summer, they will find a way to figure out an extension now for one of the game’s most promising rising stars.
Restricted free agency is a simple concept. The Celtics have first dibs on Rondo — any team is willing to make the point guard an offer, but if the Celtics match that offer, Rondo is locked in.
Here’s the thing though. Now is not the time to get into a bidding war. Better safe than sorry — sign him now.
With Kevin Garnett locked into a megadeal through 2012 and Pierce unlikely to opt out, the Celtics have a ton of money already invested in their team after 2010. They don’t have enough cash to compete with the teams that are clearing house in preparation for the LeBron sweepstakes. It’s not worth the risk.
The way I see it, letting Rondo explore restricted free agency will likely lead to one of two scenarios:
1. A team with major rebuilding plans — New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Dallas, it could be anyone — signs LeBron or Wade. That team plans to build around the unbelievable athleticism of its franchise scorer, and to that end, its GM goes after a point guard with similarly unbelievable athleticism. That would be Rondo. The sky’s the limit with a championship at the line, so the team naturally outbids the Celtics. Rondo is gone.
2. A fringe contender in need of one more guard — Dallas, Philadelphia, Houston, maybe the Blake Griffin-led Clippers — goes after a star like Wade or Joe Johnson. The team gets outbid, and its GM overcompensates by spending too heavily on Rondo. The price isn’t right, the Celtics back down, and they’re out of luck.
Neither of these scenarios ends well for the C’s, does it?
A year from now, we’re going to see money thrown around with reckless abandon. It’ll be an offseason the NBA has never seen before. The Celtics, championship contenders right now, are in a position to resist change, which they can do by securing their most important pieces now.
http://www2.nesn.com/boston-celtics/200 ... n-rondo/?3
