Report: Celtics Offered Rondo 5 Years, $70M

http://redsarmy.com/2015/11/03/report-celtics-offered-rondo-5-years-70-million/



Report: Celtics offered Rondo 5 years, $70 million?

Chuck - Red's ArmyNovember 3, 2015




Yahoo’s Marc Spears has a story about Rajon Rondo’s early success in Sacramento where he sheds some light on a contract extension the Celtics reportedly offered Rondo last year:

Rondo was in the final year of a five-year, $55 million contract with the Boston Celtics when last season began. He was the last player remaining from Boston’s 2008 NBA championship team and appeared receptive to a contract extension. But after Rondo turned down a five-year extension estimated to pay close to $70 million in hopes of landing a maximum contract later, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 18.

“I don’t look at the past at all,” Rondo said. “What’s for me is what’s for me. Everybody always talks about money, money, money. But for me it’s all about happiness.”

The extension offer isn’t a secret. Danny Ainge mentioned it back in January of 2014. He didn’t reveal dollars but, because of CBA rules, we had an idea:

Feb. 1, 2014 – June 30, 2014: Rondo can only sign a two-year, $28.8 million extension
July 10, 2014 – June 30, 2015: Rondo can sign a three-year, $44.8 million extension
July 10, 2015: Rondo can sign an estimated five-year, $108 million free-agent contract with the Celtics

Technically, Boston couldn’t offer a 5 year, $70 million extension. They could only offer $70 million once Rondo hit free agency. Maybe Spears is referring to some sort of “this is the highest we are willing to go” discussion Ainge had with Rondo. Back then, there was chatter that Rondo was looking for max money ($100 million).

What if Rondo took the offer? Would the Celtics have drafted Julius Randle in 20014 knowing that Rondo would be around for the next 5 years? Would this team be in better/worse shape?


bob
MY NOTE:  I'm not a big fan of "woulda, coulda, shoulda's" in general.  You do the best your can, with the information you have and the talent/skills you have, at the time the decision has to be made.  Mooning over how things might have been different "if only" sounds to me like mental masturbation without the happy ending, but I know a lot of people enjoy it, so here it is:

Suppose Rondo had taken the offer?  Would we be in better shape now or not?  Why (or why not)?  Do you agree with his assumption we would have taken Randle instead of Smart?  Randle passed on a 2nd work out with the Celtics because

gary washburn ✔ @GwashburnGlobe
Julius Randle said he did pass on the second opportunity to work out with #celtics but NOT for GQ shoot. Said he felt he had shown enough
10:15 AM - 25 Jun 2014
 21 21 Retweets   10 10 likes


If not Randle or Smart, then whom?  And why would that be better?


.

The reason Tyler Zeller had such a high FG% last year at beginning of season was because of Rondo, he made a fairly avg center look pretty good on offense, right now nobody can get him the ball like that.

Tyler Zeller had a high % all year, and just look at the win loss record with and without Rondo.

Celtics sucked with Rondo for the last 3 years. He played 3 half season the last 3 years, and the half season without Rondo was night and day better each of those 3 years.

Even before his injury, the Celtics were 20-23, in the middle of a 6 game losing streak, when Rondo went down and the team instantly started winning.

Smart was a better leader, and way more clutch, from day one.

Rondo was a nice fit with the "big three" teams, and many hoped and thought he could step into a more prominent role in the post-big three era, but it just didn't happen. If he was offered an extension, it's probably best for the Celtics that he didn't take it.

Accept the contract or not, I am glad that Rondo got traded. Even just a one for one trade that brought in Crowder was a winner for Ainge.

Even with the 70 million figure being below the max, it still would have tied up too much.

We need flexibility as we see what we can assemble.

Rondo held the ball too long, there are many things that would not have happened if he had taken the deal.

#! No IT
#2 No playoffs
#3 Certainly not as many last minute wins with the ball moving around
the way it did toward the end of last year
#4 Evan Turner would never have gotten to the level he did LAST YEAR
I repeat LAST YEAR
#5 A completely different offense than we saw for the last half of the
year
#6 A frustrated Brad Stevens

Outside wrote:Rondo was a nice fit with the "big three" teams, and many hoped and thought he could step into a more prominent role in the post-big three era, but it just didn't happen. If he was offered an extension, it's probably best for the Celtics that he didn't take it.

+1

I agree with EVERYTHING in your post.  Rondo fit in quite nicely with the three future hall of famers, not so well as the main attraction.

Rondo was to the Celtics as Ringo was to the Beatles?  (LOL)

gyso

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Rondo held the ball too long, there are many things that would not have happened if he had taken the deal.

#!  No IT
#2  No playoffs
#3  Certainly not as many last minute wins with the ball moving around
      the way it did toward the end of last year
#4   Evan Turner would never have gotten to the level he did LAST YEAR
      I repeat LAST YEAR
#5   A completely different offense than we saw for the last half of the
      year
#6   A frustrated Brad Stevens

Rosalie, I found an image to sum up your breakdown of Rondo if he had signed the deal. Actually, what he was doing to the franchise even before he left:

rambone wrote:Tyler Zeller had a high % all year, and just look at the win loss record with and without Rondo.

Celtics sucked with Rondo for the last 3 years. He played 3 half season the last 3 years, and the half season without Rondo was night and day better each of those 3 years.

Even before his injury, the Celtics were 20-23, in the middle of a 6 game losing streak, when Rondo went down and the team instantly started winning.

Smart was a better leader, and way more clutch, from day one.

Smart was a rookie last year learning the game and going thru his learning phase which he is still going thru, I like him very much, but very very few players are leaders as rookies. Larry Bird was a leader as a rookie, Smart was nowhere near that class of leader as a rookie, he could grow into it.

Zeller was like over 70% FG first month of season, finished at 54%, I'd say his FG% went steadily down....my point on Rondo wasn't the teams record, it was without Rondo getting Zeller the ball at his sweet spot for bunnies his offense suffered.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

rambone wrote:Tyler Zeller had a high % all year, and just look at the win loss record with and without Rondo.

Celtics sucked with Rondo for the last 3 years. He played 3 half season the last 3 years, and the half season without Rondo was night and day better each of those 3 years.

Even before his injury, the Celtics were 20-23, in the middle of a 6 game losing streak, when Rondo went down and the team instantly started winning.

Smart was a better leader, and way more clutch, from day one.

Smart was a rookie last year learning the game and going thru his learning phase which he is still going thru, I like him very much, but very very few players are leaders as rookies. Larry Bird was a leader as a rookie, Smart was nowhere near that class of leader as a rookie, he could grow into it.

Zeller was like over 70% FG first month of season, finished at 54%, I'd say his FG% went steadily down....my point on Rondo wasn't the teams record, it was without Rondo getting Zeller the ball at his sweet spot for bunnies his offense suffered.

I agree with you on that, and think IT or Rozier needs to be on the court at all times.

As far as Smart's leadership, it's been almost as legendary as his defense, since his freshman year of college and before. Just like defense, not every decent/good leader is the same.

And Rondo is just bottom barrel as far as leadership, and that goes back to high school, and especially college and especially his rookie year in Boston. And especially as soon as KG and PP and Doc started calling it "Rondo's team now".

Jeff Green is another guy who was never ever going to be a real leader.

Leadership is a point guard skill, and Rondo was bottom barrel his whole life, while Smart's leadership has been legendary since high school.

I agree Jeff Green sucked. worst fockin trade in Celtic history!!

rambone wrote:Leadership is a point guard skill, and Rondo was bottom barrel his whole life, while Smart's leadership has been legendary since high school.

did Rondo help lead us in playoffs in 10? he annihilated Mo Williams and carried us that whole playoff run, he was the energizer bunny.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

rambone wrote:Leadership is a point guard skill, and Rondo was bottom barrel his whole life, while Smart's leadership has been legendary since high school.

did Rondo help lead us in playoffs in 10? he annihilated Mo Williams and carried us that whole playoff run, he was the energizer bunny.

He was always a good player, he was never a good leader. Ask his HS, college, or pro coaches.

Not that this changes the discussion about whether Rondo was good for this team or not, but it is an update:


http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/danny-ainge-denies-yahoo-report-70m-rajon-rondo-offer-last-season?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo


Ainge denies Yahoo report of $70M Rondo offer last season

November 5, 2015, 10:15 am












BOSTON – Danny Ainge denied a Yahoo Sports report that the Celtics offered Rajon Rondo a five-year, $70 million contract extension.

“That’s not the correct number,” Ainge said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show on Thursday. “We wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Ainge reiterated that the Celtics did make an offer, but it was for only two years because of limitations within the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

The offer was one in which Ainge anticipated would be turned down because the limitations within the CBA applied to the number of years as well as the amount for which Rondo could be paid above what he was currently making.

Rondo had mentioned on more than one occasion that he wanted a max-salary contract, something that could have only come about during the summer when he became an unrestricted free agent.

Ainge said the extension would have paid Rondo “11, 12, 13 million, somewhere in that neighborhood.”

Prior to being traded last December to Dallas, Rondo was in the final year of a five-year, $55 million contract that paid him $12.9 million for the 2014-2015 season.

After a bitter split with the Mavericks which included multiple clashes with Dallas head coach and former Celtic guard Rick Carlisle, Rondo hit the free agent market this summer and signed a one-year, $9.5 million contract with the Sacramento Kings.

This season with Sacramento (1-4), Rondo is averaging 12.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.


bob


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http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/11/dallas_mavericks_twitter_rajon.html#incart_river



Dallas Mavericks Twitter: Rajon Rondo 'crappy' throw-in in Boston Celtics trade last season


Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com By Tom Westerholm | twesterh@masslive.com

on November 05, 2015 at 11:20 PM, updated November 05, 2015 at 11:21 PM




If Rick Carlisle and Mark Cuban could have one do-over from the events of last year, there's a good chance it would be the deal that brought former Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo in for a brief, chaotic stint with the Dallas Mavericks.

Unfortunately for the Mavericks, the damage is done — Danny Ainge dealt Rondo and Dwight Powell to Dallas in exchange for Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson and (most notably) this year's top-seven protected first-round pick.

While Crowder has been productive in Boston, giving up that pick is likely Cuban and Carlisle's biggest regret. Their second biggest regret, meanwhile, is probably bringing in Rondo himself. Rondo and Carlisle butted heads almost immediately in Dallas and that seemed to derail the Mavericks' 2014-15 season, as Rondo actually left the team — never to return — in the playoffs.

The Mavericks, it seems, haven't forgiven and forgotten.




Akis Yerocostas @Aykis16
Aaaand it got deleted real quick. Not to worry @dallasmavs I got a backup just in case.
7:10 PM - 5 Nov 2015
 121 121 Retweets   114 114 likes


It should be noted that the Mavericks reporter Mike Fisher had taken over the Twitter account for the evening, and this particular joke was yanked very quickly. But while the internet has a short attention span (and thus a short memory), it's also very quick on the screen cap trigger.

While the Mavericks have been playing Powell this season (and he seems to be a useful — if not particularly noteworthy — player), the trade still skews massively in Boston's favor.

Rondo turned out to be an expensive, damaging rental who didn't vault the Mavericks back into deep playoff contention. Instead, Dallas sunk into a quagmire, making Boston's potential pick (again, top-seven protected) a potentially valuable one. The Mavericks still employ Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parson, and thus they will likely have trouble tanking to keep their pick with so many bad teams below them, but they also aren't going to be good in the loaded Western Conference. The chances of Boston very nearly maximizing that pick are as good as one can expect from a difficult gamble like a top-seven protected selection.

It should, as always, be noted that this is Twitter and that it shouldn't be taken too seriously — team Twitter accounts that are guarded and professional aren't very fun, while Twitter accounts that take to the medium (like the Atlanta Hawks' account) are often creative and funny. It's just Twitter.

But this tweet speaks to the larger problem in Dallas — feel free to blame the Rondo "throw-in," but the Mavericks' front office mortgaged a part of their future to bring in a point guard who increasingly appears to have long passed his most useful days in the NBA. In looking to put together another postseason contender around Nowitzki before he retires, the Mavericks may have put themselves in a difficult position long term. That sort of thing happens (watch the Lakers flounder away big portions of their future in order to keep Kobe Bryant happy), but it's rarely a good look for a franchise with a dwindling superstar.



bob
MY NOTE:  OUCH!!


.

It looks like they are really searching for the silver lining in that thundercloud of a trade.

Humor could help. Dwight Powell indeed!

I continue to feel quite happy with the results. The only downside it that it now makes two teams (possibly three) that Danny can no longer trade with. The Nets and the Mavs (and possibly the T'wolves, mostly due to a false urban legend) have ended with the crap end of the stick when trading with the Celtics and have blocked all incoming calls with a Boston area code.

Hey Guys and Gals Rondo just got a triple double, I'm watching a thrilling game in a tight 4th quarter, GS vs Sac, Curry vs Rondo....apparently Rondo still has his ability to get up for big games, no Demarcus Cousins, 6 min left Kings up 1. Curry 0-8 from 3.

damn Curry just hit a 3!!!

I watched most of the Golden State-Sacramento game, and two things were apparent all game long -- the Warriors were playing about as poorly as they can play, and Rondo was having a flashback to his triple-double days.

And it wasn't one of those selfish triple-doubles where he screws up the team to make sure he gets his stats. He was efficient, effective, and doing everything within the team concept. His line was 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 15 assists in 44 (!) minutes. It was nice to see. We'll see if George Karl can coax this type of performance out of Rondo on a regular basis. One thing is the Darren Collison, who has been splitting time with Rondo, was out for this game.

Warriors won the game, but man, they couldn't shoot worth anything. They made 38 of 92 overall and only eight of 39 threes. Curry was a mere mortal. What should've been their easiest game so far was one of their toughest. That's the way it goes some games.

Outside glad you saw the game, Rondo exceeded my expectations in this game, I was also impressed the way he followed around Stephon Curry off the ball, staying with him, he had some great dishes as well.