Unfortunately, I hate to agree with Felger (Felgee, your wife is hot), but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I’m prepping myself to welcome Nash, Parker, Gay, Hamilton, Rubio or anyone else to Boston. Sorry, Rajon…it was nice while it lasted!

he didn’t sound like there are any serious carryover effects from his lateness.

I’ve just listened to the Weei on demand broadcast of the Ainge interview. You have to listen closely to catch all the nuances, but there is no doubt in my mind that Ainge has not been presented with any deal that he likes enough to part with Rondo and that it would take a no brainer one to do so. He sees Rondo’s flaws, which he freely recognizes, as part of his natural maturity and development process both as a player and person. Reading any thing else into what he’s saying is overreaching

impressive.

put that in your top 5.

Everyone who wants to believe that nothing will happen with Rondo has made good points, but the main questions are why be so outward with the comments and point out his flaws and why now? Look, Danny has had negotiations with plenty of players before Rondo, including Pierce, Garnett, etc. He has never been this forward with his comments and critiques. The very idea that he is putting this info out there to drive Rondo’s price down makes it even worse. How do you think a move like that would affect the relationship between the player and team, that is, to purposely and vindictively drive a player’s price down? This relationship is already headed south and I do not think it can be saved. Regardless of when it happens, Rondo is gone…

And I agree with this statement. While talented, Rondo’s presence on the floor oftne kills us becuase of his lack of shooting ability. Put it this way; there are instances where we are better off having Eddie House (a guy who is not a true PG and can’t penetrate or distribute) on the floor instead of Rondo. You wouldn’t be able to say this about any good PG but Rondo.

http://www.redsarmy.com/home/2009/06/ainge-rondo-isnt-an-elite-point-guard.html

but at this point it seems more like preparing us for a trade.

Why criticize Rondo if you want to trade him? It lowers his value.

And I don’t think Ainge gives two potatoes about preparing the fanbase for a trade.

Danny`s looking long-term.

When KG & Paul are gone in a few years, and Rondo being paid $$$….is Rondo the kind of guy he wants as the “team leader”?

One who younger players look to for leadership…a guy who is quiet, stubborn, late?

Rondo is the starting point guard on a contending team. He already has one ring and has a good chance to get another next year. That is a pretty good place to be. He is going into his free agent year. Getting sent off to Memphis or Detroit would be a very bad thing for Rondo. Maybe Ainge has no real intention of trading him but is nonetheless aggrivated by his maturity level. So, Ainge is putting out the trade rumors as a way of telling Rondo “you better grow up because right now we are afraid to give you long term money and we are not afraid to trade you.”

Is ainge trying to prove to Rondo and his agent what his value is

Look here http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009/06/spears_latest_d.html

Ainge told a GM that he won’t trade Rondo.

the only logical explanation would be ainge using these proposals to tell Rondo and his agent, listen we could wait till next summer and match any deal you get or lets extend you now with comparison to these players.

I think Rondo’s performance with KG out, especially the triple doubles in the Bulls series, went to his head, and Ainge is trying to bring him back down to earth and push him to improve his game. sounds like rondo may be more focused to ask for max money that to improve his jump shot this summer. Ainge knows that it’s highly unlikely, unless he can pull a Gasol, that he can get good enough value for rondo, so why not light a fire under him? His assessment was very truthful, rondo hurt the team and played poorly in the magic series on both ends of the floor. If he was more mature and focused we got have beaten LA for #18 this year.

I think – either Danny already has a trade in the works and he is trying to sour fans on a player who we all just watched practically average a triple double in 13 playoff games, so as to reduce the heat he will take for trading him; or he is trying to reduce the market demand overall for Rondo so as to so lock him up for less money; or he has no agenda and is simply saying what is on his mind.

Rondo won Game 6 for the Celts against the Lakers last year. Even Phil J admitted as much. I can’t see why Danny would want to trade a player like that, ESPECIALLY since Danny is the one who has coveted this guy all along

Unless we get another proven winner in return, I wouldn’t trade him.

I agree that this could be intended to send a message to the kid, but I think we’re going to find out it’s more than that

I’m hesitant about dealig him too, but I trust Danny in this situation, whatever his motive is

I find Ainge’s public comments a bit surprising and I think his motivations are a little stronger than trying to make a point to this guy.

This offseason is vital for Danny and the C’s because it charts the course for the next 2 or 3 seasons. That’s why I think Rondo is definitely in play and there’s a pretty good chance he’s getting dealt somewhere.

You can’t gamble a max type contract on someone who can’t shoot and has maturity issues — which he’s always had apparently. If max money is what they think he’s going to want, deal him now. But you better get a PG back because that’s a position not easily filled. Forget Steve Nash. The sooner you stabilize your PG position for the long term the better.

“Do Rondo and Perkins help you win now, with the Big Three, and down the road?”

“I think they do. I think that makes a lot of sense. I think a lot of guys look at young players, as the weak link. Kendrick this year was not a weak link. He did a great job against Dwight Howard.
The way that they were defending us, it was hard for the three superstars…
Rondo, as we saw in the Orlando series, they left him wide open. His presence hurt us in winning right now. His man left him and doubled Ray or Paul.
It made it difficult for us.
They’re young players. They help us win sometimes and they make it harder for us to win sometimes because of their youth and inexperience. They’re good players. They’re not great players. We’re hoping they develop into great players.”

Maybe I`m reading too much into this, but that doesn`t sound as if they want to pay him big money.

… but when I first starting hearing these stories I assumed it was about money. The C’s felt out Rondo and his agent on an extension and mihgt have been shocked to learn that RR thinks he’s a max guy.

He’s not a max guy. He’s a young player with a ton of potential and some big holes in his game. Or to be less charitible, he’s a guard who can defend and pass, but can’t shoot or hit his FT’s.

Like Glenn Davis though, he performed well on the big stage, and someone will probably want to overpay him, if the C’s don’t.

One small note: You ever see Rondo wear a C’s jersey outside of a game? He still wears his UK stuff everywhere.

There was an incident where Joe Forte, while a rookie with the Celtics, went around wearing a Lakers jersey (or maybe it was a hat, I forget which). This behavior was not well received by his teammates.

Remember ubuntu.

The more commentators who come out and say Rondo is being shopped due to personality issues, the less likely he will be traded.

I thought Ainge’s assessment of Rondo on the radio this morning was accurate.

: Rajon Rondo is definitely on the market. I’m told he’s very hard for Doc Rivers to coach, and that while Rondo gets along OK with his teammates, he’s far from a great teammate. The fear in Boston is that if Rondo’s this difficult to handle on a rookie-scale salary, he’s going to be a monster once he gets big money.

One GM told me, “They won a championship with this guy and he’s coming off a tremendous playoff performance … and they’re looking to trade him. That tells you how bad things are.”

Out of nowhere…Ainge suddenly reveals RR was fined a few months ago, and makes the point it was a playoff game he was late for. This had been a well kept secret.

Why? Because, he`s “making his case” to Celtic fans why he is about to trade RR.

Ainge is holding out for Memphis to sweeten the deal.
Ainge wants Gay PLUS the #2 pick…and he`s willing to give up more than RR to get it done.

Ainge is intentionally reducing Rondo’s value because he wants to sign him long-term for less money. I’ve had bosses use the same tactic on me. It’s pretty standard procedure.

Can’t post this on fanposts. Perhaps you can load it up. Bill Russell on The Daily Show.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=230714&title=Bill-Russell

Could it be that there is a trade all ready set up but its based on rondo signing an extention to his contract with the new team(like we did with KG) and he is asking for too much $$$. DA may be trying to lower the price for Rondo to get a trade done….