It’s no secret that Rajon Rondo has quietly spent his fair share of time on Danny Ainge‘s trading block the past few seasons. His odd blend of talent, moodiness, basketball IQ and injury history has made his future with the Boston Celtics increasingly harder to predict.
But if what we’ve seen — and heard — out of Rondo lately is any indication, the Celtics should make re-signing him to a max contract their top priority this upcoming summer.
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Rondo entered the season with a broken hand, an injury he sustained while falling down in the shower of his home. He was coming off a season in which he only played 30 games recuperating from that torn ACL and the trade value of this 28-year-old had never been lower. Set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer, Rondo’s future was more than unclear.
Would Ainge be willing to sign his aging star point guard to a max deal in the middle of Boston’s current rebuilding project? Would he test the waters to see how Rondo’s full comeback season went before making a decision on moving him before the trade deadline? Would he risk letting Rondo walk next summer without getting any compensation?
A little more than two weeks into the season, both sides have continued to say all the right things. Ainge spent the whole summer shouting from the mountaintops that he wants to re-sign Rondo next summer. Rondo has emphatically agreed that he loves being a Celtic and wants to stay in Boston. But even more encouraging for Rondo fans, everything we’ve seen from the Celts the past two weeks suggests that Boston’s franchise player can still have a major impact on this young team.
Rondo on wanting to re-sign w #celtics "Regardless of what’s going on in the season, my perspective hasn’t changed. I love being a Celtic.”
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) November 13, 2014
Seven games into the season, the Celtics aren’t quite taking the league by storm with a 3-4 record. But Brad Stevens’ team has been much better than anticipated, posting a point differential of -1.9 — pretty decent for a team with a losing record that was projected to be a bottom feeder. The defense is awfully porous for having such a great defensive backcourt, but Rondo is shepherding one of the league’s highest scoring offenses.
He’s flown well under the radar, but Rondo is damn near averaging a triple-double, putting up 10.8 points, 11.3 assists, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. He’s shooting the ball extremely well, posting a respectable 45.2 percent from the field and an incredible 38.5 percent from three-point range on 2.2 attempts per game. He’s leading the league in assists and has unquestionably made his young supporting cast that much better.
Rondo shouldn’t be credited with all of Boston’s surprising start, since the development of Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley, the scoring of Jeff Green and the shooting touch of Kelly Olynyk have all contributed to the Celtics’ relatively solid start. But there’s no question about who the leader of this team is.
Though some fans may feel bad about him wasting the remainder of his prime guiding the franchise through a rebuilding process, Rondo’s loyalty appears to be in Boston. A max contract certainly would make the growing pains easier, especially since the Celts have so many draft picks saved up that will add talent to the roster.
Drafting Marcus Smart gave Boston a possible replacement if Rondo were on his way out, but if Rondo’s heart is in Boston and he’s still capable of putting up a triple-double almost every night, why not keep him around? He’s not going to lead a team to a championship, but if he helps make his teammates better and excels when he actually is surrounded by talent, why let him go?
Do the right thing, Danny Ainge. Keep Rajon Rondo off the trade block, let him continue to play as a max-caliber player and re-sign the last remaining piece of that 2008 championship team.