Credit Rondo with an assist in recruiting Courtney Lee

Courtney Lee has had some struggles to begin the year, but I have a lot of confidence that he's going to be huge for this team sooner or later - and bank on sooner. He's already picking up the slack on defense as the team waits for Bradley's return.

We all heard about how Doc Rivers played a big part in the decision One story that I hadn't heard before now was Rajon Rondo's participation in recruiting Lee this summer.

An inside look at Rondo: To play with him is to know him

Rondo has taken on the role of both team greeter and recruiter. When Courtney Lee was weighing his options this summer, he was pleasantly surprised to receive phone calls and text messages from Rondo. Although the two were not friends off the court -- they knew each other through the basketball circuit and mutual friends in Kentucky where they attended college -- Rondo made a strong effort make his future lockermate feel wanted. "He called me during free agency and expressed that he wanted me to come here," Lee said. "It was, 'What’s up, how are you doing' for the most part. Then he got into it, 'You can fill this role, we can do this, we can do that. Ultimately the decision’s up to you, so we’d love to have you here.' It influenced my decision a lot. Playing with people that you already know and then the caliber of players that are here, it definitely made an impact.

Of course go check out the whole article - another great in-depth look by Jessica Camerato.