HOW TONY PARKER’S EXTENSION AFFECTS RAJON RONDO’S CONTRACT SITUATION

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2014/08/01/how-tony-parkers-extension-affects-rajon-rondos-contract-situation/




HOW TONY PARKER’S EXTENSION AFFECTS RAJON RONDO’S CONTRACT SITUATION
08.01.14 at 5:41 pm ET
By Ben Rohrbach



Tony Parker inked a three-year contract extension with the Spurs for an estimated $43.3 million, according to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but does it have any bearing on Rajon Rondo‘s current status with the Celtics?

In roughly the same salary situation — Parker will make $12.5 million to Rondo’s $12.9 million this season — the former chose the max extension available to him right now, a presumed 7.5 percent annual increase averaging $14.3 million from 2016-18.

Rondo can accept a similar deal now or wait until next summer, when he could max out at an estimated $20.9 million annually from 2015-20. It’s easy to see why Rondo has stated his intention to fulfill the final year of his deal and become a free agent in 2015.

Parker, 32, is four years older than Rondo and will have already made $107.5 million when his extension kicks in next year. He’s also quite comfortable in San Antonio, where he has won four NBA titles and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has created an atmosphere that keeps stars coming back for below market value.

Of course, Rondo also inked a team-friendly deal when the Celtics were winning, signing a five-year extension worth $55 million in 2009, but he doesn’t quite have that same motivation to stay in Boston now.

Even if he won’t consider an extension now, one reason Rondo should at least think about it is his ability to play his way into another big payday at age 32 — as the Spurs point guard just did. In 2018, Rondo would be eligible to receive as much as a third of the salary cap two years after the new TV deal sends the league’s figure soaring. If he signs a four- or five-year deal next summer, he’ll be pushing 34 after the deal and more likely facing a pay cut.

There’s also an argument that Rondo won’t fetch a max contract next summer. Only Chris Paul ($20.1 million), Deron Williams ($19.8M) and Derrick Rose ($18.9M) will make more this season than the $18.2 million Rondo is expected to seek in 2015-16. If his agent believes he won’t fetch more than $15 million annually on the open market, Rondo might be wise to accept a Parker-esque extension now. Unless, of course, he plans to obliterate the league in his first full season since ACL surgery and vault himself back into conversations that include Paul and Rose.




bob
MY NOTE:  $ aside, how about Rondo looking at how the fans respond to Parker's loyalty vs how Melo came across.  IMO, Melo came across as a game player.  Sure, he had the right to field all offers, but he knew he was getting the max no matter where he went, he knew nobody could offer him a longer contract than the NYK and unless he just wanted out of NY why go through all of that besides to stroke his ego.  Unfortunately, that's what Rondo is saying, he wants to be courted.  Kobe Bryant's new contract may be an icepick in the heart of any attempt by the Lakers to rebuild but he gained HUGE kudos from everybody (especially his Laker fans who wanted him to stay) by NOT playing the game and just signing with "his" team.  If the Celtics are Rondo's team, he should make that clear, like the way Doc signed a 5-year contract because he was always talking to the players about commitment and loyalty and felt he needed to walk the walk himself.


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bob,

Your example of Doc's signing the 5 year contract and using it as a measuring stick for commitment and loyalty to a team doesn't make sense to me.  Remember, he did bail before the 5 years were up, reportedly because he didn't want to be a part of a rebuild sans Pierce and KG. When he signed that contract, he had to have known that some kind of rebuild would come into play before the 5 years were up.

I also remember that he would not verbally commit to the next season each and every summer after he signed that contract.  He seemed to want to get his head on straight after each long playoff run, which I can kind of understand, but when it happened each year, I wouldn't exactly call it commitment and loyalty.

gyso

gyso wrote:bob,

Your example of Doc's signing the 5 year contract and using it as a measuring stick for commitment and loyalty to a team doesn't make sense to me.  Remember, he did bail before the 5 years were up, reportedly because he didn't want to be a part of a rebuild sans Pierce and KG. When he signed that contract, he had to have known that some kind of rebuild would come into play before the 5 years were up.

I also remember that he would not verbally commit to the next season each and every summer after he signed that contract.  He seemed to want to get his head on straight after each long playoff run, which I can kind of understand, but when it happened each year, I wouldn't exactly call it commitment and loyalty.

gyso

gyso,

I don't remember Doc equivocating before that contract, I remember it on the previous one. Maybe I'm wrong.

Also, yeah, he bailed before the 5th year but there were signs of friction between him and Danny appearing. Also, if my memory is working, I seem to remember that it was Danny who first asked Doc if he would be interested in the LAC opening.


bob


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Bob,

What were some of the "signs of friction between" Doc and Danny?  I don't recall any of that.

Sam

bob,

I probably could go back to the July - August time frame for the last 3 or so years of his last contract with the Celtics and find threads about Doc feeding us a steady diet of waffles.  I'm just too lazy right now to do it, maybe later.

The whole "Doc and Danny: who said what first" turned into a he said, she said kind of a thing.  I believe that Doc told Danny that if Pierce and KG were traded, he wanted no part of that.  Given that bit of information (and being the good little Ferengi that Danny is) Danny thought up a way to profit from trading Doc, along with Pierce and KG, to the Clippers.  Doc told Danny that he would be interested in that proposal.  Danny got the ball rolling and then the league put a stop to it.

So technically, Danny may have mentioned the LA coach opening first, but Doc was going to leave anyway.  Danny had his say in a radio interview (WEEI?) and Doc was caught off guard and went all reinventing history on us.

Anyway, that is how I remember it.  However, I am almost 60 and my short term memory is, well, short and my long term memory is shorter.

gyso

Hi,
I don't think Tony Parker's contract has much relevance on RR's situation.
1. Completely different teams - Spurs are contender, Celtics are rebuilding.
2. Practically all Spurs remain. Kind of "band of brothers" TP's one of which. RR is "Last of Mahicans", kind of.
3. TP is 32 vs RR's 28.
4. TP isn't "da man" in SAS, RR is in Boston.

I think RR will get FA status and DA gives him near max for 5 years.

AK

The Spurs are in a kind of cruise control, immersed in a situation that is idyllic.  They have a winning system of play.  They have a great balance of players who complement and empower one another.  They exercise restraint in their public personnae.  They have an genuine sense of togetherness that outdoes ubuntu.  They recognize that part of pulling together in today's basketball economy involves sacrificing short-term riches in return for for long-term satisfaction.

The Celtics have had that kind of situation in the past, but they're not in the same universe at the same present time.  Hopefully, they'll gravitate to that kind of formula over time, but I don't believe the scenario in which Rondo finds himself has any similarity to that in San Antonio.

Sam

the answer is......not at all.

we all know by now that this is more than a 1-2 year rebuild Ainge is doing here.

Paying Rondo $20M/year doesn't make sense in that case.

Rondo most likely will be elsewhere by the time the Celtics are contending again. Ainge needs to get the most he can for him before he bolts.

the market may be more limited than we think for Rondo however.

sam wrote:Bob,

What were some of the "signs of friction between" Doc and Danny?  I don't recall any of that.

Sam

sam and gyso,

I seem to remember Doc not being too happy with Danny dangling Ray as trade bait (we know Ray wasn't too keen on it neither). Doc was fiercely loyal to the all of the 3 Amigos. I also seem to remember Doc not being too happy about Perk being traded.

I googled for friction between Ainge and Rivers and only came up with a Forsberg article from 2013 in which he cited a claim by Stephen A. Smith that claimed there might be lingering friction between the two which was causing Doc to not immediately attest to his return for the next season. Letting myself be influenced by a Forsberg peptic regurgitation of a Stephen Asshole Smith gastro-intestinal effluence makes me an idiot.

My apologies.


bob


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Forsberg citing Stephen A. Smith is like Hitler quoting Stalin on hopes for world peace.

Sam