Danny Ainge Is Sending Mixed Messages About Rajon Rondo
June 25, 2009 – 12:45 pm by Jimmy Shapiro
This is hard for me to write as I’m a crazy Sixers fan, but I like Danny Ainge. I didn’t when I was younger. In fact, I was at the game when Sedale Threatt knocked him down with one punch and hated the Celtics (still do). After covering Ainge while in Phoenix, I couldn’t help but like him. He was both the coach and behind the scenes when I was there and was great to the media (as you’ll read in this interview below). He used to come into our station and play wiffle ball in the hallways with us. I was in the bag for Ainge after that. Plus he hit my wicked knuckle curve!
Ainge did a great job of drafting young players and developing them to the point where he could trade for players like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. From all the rumors that are out there regarding Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, it sure sounds like Ainge is getting the itchy trade trigger finger again. Ainge sends mixed message about Rajon Rondo in this forthright intervew with WEEI. He also talks about the Cavs potentially having to some day do a sign-and-trade with LeBron, the draft, and how he’s not a big fan of Ricky Rubio
Why does Rondo’s name appear in trade rumors every 10 minutes?
“The media around the league kind of looks at things that make sense. They try to make up things because they think that Rondo’s contract is coming up, Ray Allen is an expiring contract, so they put things together and try to come up with trade rumors.”
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.”
Is Rondo worthy of being a max contract guy?
“Not right now, I don’t think that Rondo’s a max contract player. I think it’s a good goal for Rondo to have from a monetary standpoint, to be that kind of player that warrants a max-contract player. I certainly don’t see Rondo as a max contract player today.”
Would this (letting him become a restricted free agent) be taking a chance that he could leave in two years and you’d get nothing for him?
“It depends. I guess it depends on where we are as a team. We love Rondo. Rondo is a player we want to have on our team and he’s a guy we want to move forward with. We would never want him to just go away (without compensation). Next summer is probably a summer where we’ll have to come to some financial decisions on Rondo, if we don’t come to a conclusion this summer.”
On the idea that Rondo was sitting in his car and late to practice:
“There was just a couple of situations where Rajon was late. I don’t know if he was sitting in his car, but he showed up late and the rest of the team was there, and he was late. There are team rules in place and he said he was in traffic. That was unacceptable.”
Is Rivers frustrated with Rondo?
“He has not been, no. He’s gotten frustrated here and there. Doc understands that talent wins. He [Rondo] is a very talented player. But, he’s got some holes in his game that he’s working on. If Doc might be frustrated I’ll throw out these hypothetical trades, like ‘Would you rather have this guy?’ If Doc says, ‘No, no, no,’ then I gauge it by that. Sometimes it’s just frustration, but we won’t trade a player unless he’s really disruptive, and Rondo is not a disruptive force on our team. He’s a dynamic player and we love the kid. We’re not looking to trade Rondo because he was late for a playoff game or because he’s got some growing up to do. Some of our 30-year-old players have growing up to do as well. I think that there’s a lot of speculation that Rondo’s expecting a contract. He was late for playoff games and he didn’t play well in the Orlando series. I think a lot of people are making something out of nothing that’s really there.”
Can you ever imagine Cleveland doing a sign-and-trade with LeBron?
“At some point, you have to make that call – let him go away, or get something in return…I don’t know the answer to that. Maybe you say that in no circumstance will we ever sign-and-trade him just for the fact that we never want to be the ones to traded him. That’s a possibility.”
On draft-night plans for the Celtics:
“It looks like it’s going to be a very boring night for us.”
What about Ricky Rubio?
“I don’t see Rubio being that dynamic player now. I think he’s got a lot of potential. He’s a very flashy player. He has a great mind for the game, and he’s a terrific passer. I don’t see him, just physically, and because he doesn’t shoot the ball very well, I don’t see him having an impact as a rookie. I think he’s more of a project – a build-around franchise point guard – so I would put him down there below those other guys.”
Listen to Danny Ainge on WEEI in Boston with Dennis & Callahan
Tags: Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, NBA Draft, Rajon Rondo, Rajon Rondo trade rumors
