NBA PM: Celtics, Rondo Trying to Avoid Controversy

Few things in the NBA can be more distracting for a team than their star player heading toward free agency. It’s often talked about more than the results of the actual games and with the way the Collective Bargaining Agreement is structured, there’s no serious reason for a star player to consider signing a contract extension unless he’s coming off his rookie contract. As an unrestricted free agent, players can receive a five-year contract, whereas if they agree to an extension, the most they can do is add on three years to their existing contract.

It just doesn’t make sense to sign an extension, which is why recent extension talks between Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics did not go beyond the preliminary stages. The Celtics knew that there was no chance he was going to agree to anything they had to offer, but wanted to make their interest in keeping him long-term known as they cleaned house around him, letting Doc Rivers take over the Los Angeles Clippers and trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets.

Set to start training camp at the end of the month, the Celtics are doing everything they can to try to avoid a mess with Rondo on par with what the Los Angeles Lakers had to experience with Dwight Howard two years ago. Celtics president Danny Ainge recently said that he didn’t know what was going to happen and that nobody on the team is untradeable, which was followed up by the team owner Wyc Grousbeck questioning Rondo’s willingness to be coached. At that moment, the possibility of Rondo being traded never seemed more serious. Earlier in the summer there was a report that Rondo wanted out of Boston and wasn’t on board with their rebuilding plan, but that was quickly denied by Rondo and his camp. And, in their most recent comments, Ainge and Grousbeck were far more complimentary of Rondo and definitive in their desire for him to remain a Celtic long-term.

“Are you seriously asking me that again?” Ainge said to Jay King of MassLive.com “Yeah, we expect Rajon to be in Boston for the long term. Does that need to be asked anymore by anybody ever again? … I expect the best year of his career. He’s worked really hard this summer and I think Rondo’s going to have the best year of his life. That’s what I expect.

“He’s just a year removed from the injury. He’s growing all the time. He’s improving, he’s maturing as a leader. He’s just getting better. He’s in the prime of his career right now. And I think what he went through last year was frustrating for him, and I think that drove him to have a good, hard-working summer. I don’t think it’s the contract (motivating him) at all. I think it’s who he is. He wants to be good.

“I think he looks great. Fantastic. That’s why I just said he’s going to have the best year of his life. That would be hard to do if he wasn’t really good. (Any hesitation from the ACL injury is) absolutely gone. He looks great.”

“Absolutely it’s my goal to keep Rondo here,” Grousbeck added. “I think we all want that. And I actually honestly think –he should speak for himself – I think Rajon wants to stay or would be very happy to stay. And we’ll see how this season goes, and how the negotiations go, but he’s proud to be a Celtic. I know that. He’s proud to wear that ring and he deserved it.”

As far as his coachability is concerned, the man best suited to comment on it gave Rondo a strong endorsement that contradicted Grousbeck’s statement.

“I saw a report, but I didn’t see or hear the context, so it’s hard for me to say what exactly was said or to know exactly what context that was put in,” Boston Celtics head coach Brad Steven said. “He’s been around, he works hard and he’s a guy that I’ve really enjoyed coaching.

“Obviously, he’s a really good player that impacts the team. It’s great for our team because he’s an impactful player. I think last year, any time you have a year where you have to join it in the middle of a season, what you’re basically giving up is all that habit-building time that you get in practice and in training camp.

“Simple things like jumping in the direction of the ball defensively, little things of cuts, and those types of things that you’re just working on the details of the game, that you have time to do more in October. When you join in January, it’s hard to get back to those. Every year it’s important to get back to those things. So I think he’s really looking forward to that.

“I think he’s really looking forward to getting going. He came in yesterday and had a great workout. He’s certainly anxious when you compare it to last year, with not knowing when he would come back.”

On the outset, the Celtics, who are coming off of one of their worst seasons in franchise history, look poised to endure another difficult year as they continue to rebuild. Rondo, who has been competing for championships for the better part of his career, is set to turn 29 in February and could be signing the last big contract of his career this summer. Ideally, he’d like to finish his career with a winner, but according to Ainge, he’s a fan of a lot of the pieces the team has in place right now.

“I think that that’s a question that we’ll probably have to address at least halfway through the season, if not the end of the season,” Ainge said. “But right now Rondo has indicated to me that he wants to stay in Boston. He loves it here. He knows who his teammates are and he loves his teammates. He loves playing with Jeff (Green) and Avery (Bradley) and (Jared Sullinger). I think he spent a lot of time with Brad (Stevens) this summer and talked a lot about basketball. Brad was individually out on the court and they worked really hard together. I think that mutual respect is growing by the day and I just think that he’s in a really good place.”

With the NBA’s trade deadline not until late February, there’s no reason for the Celtics or Rondo to make any type of decision about his future right now. They’re in a position, since he’s not deadset on leaving like Kevin Love was with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where they can see how things go for the first couple months of the season. Regardless of all the positive talk right now, the Celtics are going to have to make a hard decision over whether they want to risk potentially losing him for nothing this summer with teams like the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers having cap space and a hole at the point guard position. Ainge said that teams haven’t been calling with trade offers for Rondo lately, but that is certain to change as the rest of the league, especially those teams looking for an upgrade at point, keep a very close eye on them. Offers will start to roll in eventually, and the Celtics would be foolish not to strongly consider them, unless they plan on giving Rondo the max this summer, which would force him to accept less money to leave. That’s probably the only scenario other than the rebuilding process speeding up significantly this year, in which Rondo would pass on joining a contender in free agency in order to stay.

While everyone is saying the right things now, this is the calm before a storm that seems inevitable in Boston.

Hawks Re-Sign Elton Brand: The Atlanta Hawks have re-signed forward/center Elton Brand, it was announced today by head coach Mike Budenholzer. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are happy to retain Elton,” Budenholzer said. “In addition to the production he gives us on the court, he is the ultimate professional and a terrific leader. Elton’s presence is felt by all of us, but especially his teammates.”

In 73 games (15 starts) last season with the Hawks, Brand averaged 5.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists and a team-best 1.2 blocks in 19.4 minutes (.539 FG%, .649 FT%). He ranked 23rd in the NBA in blocks per game and 12th in blocks per 48 minutes (3.0), recording 25 multi-block contests. Brand scored in double-figures 10 times and had five double-digit rebounding efforts.

The 15-year veteran has appeared in 1,005 games (863 starting assignments) with Chicago, the Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia, Dallas and the Hawks, putting up 16.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 blocks in 34.0 minutes (.501 FG%, .737 FT%). The two-time NBA All-Star (2002 and 2006) was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 2005-06, won the NBA Sportsmanship Award in 2006 and shared NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 1999-2000.

He ranks 16th among all active players in scoring (16,661), sixth in rebounds (8,877), second in offensive rebounds (3,267) and fourth in blocks (1,795).

Through 37 postseason games (30 starts), Brand has averaged 13.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 blocks in 30.8 minutes (.518 FG%, .722 FT%).

Mavericks Add Charlie Villanueva: The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent forward Charlie Villanueva. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Villanueva (6-11, 232) signs with the Mavericks after spending the last five seasons with the Detroit Pistons. He had a breakout year in 2008-09 when he averaged 16.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in his final season with the Milwaukee Bucks. Villanueva holds career averages of 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 23.1 minutes in 530 career games (158 starts) with Toronto, Milwaukee and Detroit.

The former University of Connecticut standout was originally drafted by the Toronto Raptors with the 7th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. After two seasons in Storrs, Conn., Villanueva declared for the NBA Draft. He earned Big East All-Rookie Team honors and a NCAA National Championship as a freshman and was the team’s MVP as a sophomore averaging a team-high 13.6 points per game.