Celtics exec: Rondo trade request 'news to me'

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/celtics-exec-rondo-trade-request-news-me


Celtics exec: Rondo trade request 'news to me'

September 5, 2014, 2:00 pm | A. Sherrod Blakely


JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass. — Training camp is less than a month away and the Celtics have every expectation that four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo will be available, healthy as ever.

The Celtics have done their due diligence in disputing an earlier report by ESPN that Rondo had asked for a trade.

"It was news to me," Celtics president Rich Gotham told CSNNE.com during a break as one of the Celtics volunteers, along with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and City Year, participating in the service day at Hennigan Elementary School. "It [a trade request] has not been communicated to us by Rajon."

Gotham added, "it's more of an issue for the media than it is for us. We have a good sense of reality in relation to Rajon and all of our players. We don't get caught up in the rumor mill or any of that stuff. What we focus on with Rajon is getting him ready to play. What we want to see is the Rajon Rondo from 2011, 2012, back in his best form. That's what gets us excited. When we talk to Rondo, that's what we talk about. We're not talking about trades."

Celtics assistant coach Walter McCarty has seen the commitment Rondo has made to being in Boston this summer and spending time working with the team's younger players.

Rondo returned after nearly a one-year absence and appeared in 30 games last season after a season-ending torn right ACL injury in January 2013 in a game in Atlanta.

"It's very important. It all starts with him," McCarty told CSNNE.com of Rondo being around most of the this summer. "We built this team around him. He knows that. He understands that. When he's around, other guys figure, 'hey, if he's around I need to be around too!'

McCarty added: "The more we can have him around, learning our system, learning what we're trying to accomplish, it's great. It all starts with him and he's one of the smartest players on our team and in this league. The way he soaks up information, it's only going to make our team better."

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People seem to forget that Rondo has:

1. Connected with Brad Stevens in a positive way (yet somehow, we still hear people talking about the possibility of Rondo not buying into Stevens' system and that he is a "coach killer"; complete BS if you ask me).

2. Taken on more of a leadership role with the other players (as noted in the article, he's spent a lot of time in Mass. this summer).

I'm excited to see how he will play, I hope he's fully healed.



KJ