NBA
NBA Rumors: Rondo Sees Playoffs for Celtics
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated06 Nov 2023
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When Rondo looks at all of the C’s’ incongruous parts, and factors in the Stevens effect, he believes the postseason is a realistic goal for this team.
“I believe in Danny (Ainge) and I said it a month ago. I’ve been through it. One year we were the worst team in the league and the next we were the best,” he said of the wild swing between his rookie season and the 2008 Celtics championship team. “Anything can happen. Injuries are a big factor in your success. The trade deadline is a big factor. That’s what makes the NBA exciting.
“But if you give me four guys who are going to compete and play as hard as possible, then I feel like I can win every game.”
This would be a surprise, considering the Celtics are a very young team and they won just 25 games last year. However, they have added some new players such as Marcus Smart, James Young, Evan Turner, Marcus Thornton and Tyler Zeller. They also have some returning young players who should continue to improve including Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk among others.
Rondo points out that he’s seen a team go from worst to first so he knows that it’s possible, but it’s worth noting that Boston was able to make that jump to a title team in 2008 because Danny Ainge was able to trade away the team’s young pieces for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The Celtics obviously didn’t do anything like that over the summer and that’s not a typical jump seen in the NBA.
In the article, Rondo indicates that much of his confidence in the Celtics stems from his faith in their young head coach Brad Stevens.
“He’s very positive — the most positive coach I’ve been around in my career, and it’s hard not to play for a guy like that,” Rondo said of Stevens. “That’s every day — not just in the locker room. He’s that way off the court, with his family. He’s a role model. He has all of the characteristics of a great leader. He’s great at what he does. He’s all about the team.
“The key for any successful team is for everyone to buy in, and he has everyone believing in his plan. If we continue to do that, we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
Fortunately for the Celtics, they play in the Eastern Conference, which is more wide open than the West. Last year, it only took 38 wins (a losing record) for the Atlanta Hawks to capture the eighth seed in the East. If the conference continues to struggle, it’s possible that Boston could compete for a playoff spot, but it still seems like a long shot given that Rondo is sidelined due to a wrist injury and the team is still so young.
Coach Byron Scott ruled out Nash for the Lakers’ exhibition game Sunday against Utah.
“I really don’t know what the future holds for Steve right now,” Scott said. “The one thing I do know, like I said, in talking to him, [is] he wants to play. He wants to play badly.”
Steve Nash injured his back moving bags at his home, and now his status is up in the air as the regular season approaches. Byron Scott isn’t sure when his veteran point guard will be available.
Injuries have kept Nash sidelined for all but 65 of a possible 164 games over the last two seasons, so this latest issue is another unfortunate setback for the 40-year-old.
“I expected things to happen. It’s inevitable with everything I’ve gone through that there’s going to be issues adapting back to the game,” Nash said, according to ESPN’s Holmes. “On the other hand, I did get through seven or eight hard days well, which I didn’t do last year. So there is some improvement, and if I can adapt continually once I heal up here, I’ll be back on course.”
When he’ll be able to return to the court remains to be seen. As we covered recently, Nash has indicated that this will be his final season in the NBA.
Mark Bartlestein, agent for Celtics’ Will Bynum, says he and Celts president Danny Ainge have been in ongoing talks regarding Bynum’s future.
Bartlestein said sides plan to “take a deep breath” and play out next week before Celts decide whether to keep or waive newly acquired guard.
Celts acquired Bynum Friday. Says Bartelstein: “We’re going to evaluate the landscape and figure out what’s best for Will and the Celtics.”
The Celtics acquired Bynum from the Pistons in exchange for Joel Anthony, but they may decide to waive their newest player.
Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe first reported that the two sides would be meeting over the weekend and that Bynum would likely be waived. Now, according to Stein, it sounds like nothing has been decided and that talks will continue throughout the next week.
Boston currently has 16 guaranteed contracts, meaning they must waive one player prior to the start of the regular season. It sounds like Bynum will be that player. Brad Stevens was asked about the addition of Bynum and seemed unsure about his future in Boston, according to Jay King of MassLive.com.
Bynum’s contract is on the books for $2,915,908 and is in its final year. It seems this trade was simply about getting Anthony’s contract off of the books and trimming Boston’s roster.
