Ainge Talks Rondo
Right up until the last minute it looked like the Boston Celtics and budding young star point guard Rajon Rondo might not get an extension done this season. There were issues on both sides, with Rondo's camp citing statements made in the press by the Celtics' brass about whether or not he could get on the same page with head coach Doc Rivers. Finally, however, cooler heads prevailed and the deal was consummated.
"We were all hopeful that we would get a deal done," Celtics GM Danny Ainge tells WEEI in Boston. "There's a lot of little things that have to be worked out in contract negotiations. If it didn't get worked out, I think both sides were fairly comfortable that we still had a bright future with one another going forward. I think it's better for this year and for the future to have a deal done with Rajon. He can concentrate on playing. I think it is a burden no matter what they say. I've been that player; I've seen players and played with a lot of guys that go through these negotiations. I've been around other teams and have watched them just in recent years when these things become issues and how for whatever reason players don't play as well as they're capable of playing and teams don't mesh or gel as well. So from that standpoint we were certainly trying to get a deal done."
When trade rumors surfaced this summer, a number of teams showed interest in acquiring Rondo, a factor that played heavily in Boston's desire to get a deal done now.
"I think a lot of the negotiations and what numbers we try to go to is based on trying to predict the future the best we can and the same on their perspective," explains Ainge.
"We felt first of all that Rondo is young and he's getting better. He had a great training camp, he's improving on a lot of the areas that we discussed in the offseason, and I saw great signs from Rajon. Second of all there's a lot of money out there. There's a lot of teams that are preparing for the 2010 free agent market. And then third, this summer, as a lot of you are aware, with all the trade rumors, we discovered even though we weren't close to doing a deal for Rajon, we discovered that there is a great deal of interest in him. There are a lot of teams with cap-space and with money that have him high on their list, that would love to have him and add him to their team. I think all those things are factors of why we wanted to push this signing also."
Sometimes an extension can be a bad idea, especially for young players who might lose some of their motivation to improve when their contract is for a longer term. Ainge doesn't foresee this being an issue for Rondo.
"I have seen it on occasion, but I'm not worried about Rajon. He loves to play, he's a basketball junkie, he's a great competitor and I'm not worried about that at all. He's a kid that's very confident in himself and I think he's going to be better as a result of this contract as the pressure is relieved a little bit more. Even though there is some pressure for getting a new contract, I still think the burden of wondering and always thinking about it…it will help our team a lot to not have that burden."
Bookmarks