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By Marc J. Spears,
Rajon Rondo(notes) knew his jump shot needed a lot of work last summer. But his maturity? His leadership? Yes, Rondo needed to grow in those areas, too, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge publicly declared.
So Rondo wondered about his future with the Celtics during the offseason. Would he be traded? Would the Celtics not extend his contract?
He also took Ainge’s words to heart, and some six months later the answers are in. The Celtics gave Rondo a new deal and don’t appear to have any interest in trading him. Not only is Rondo playing like an All-Star this season, the 23-year-old point guard also just might be the Celtics’ most valuable player.
“He’s been dominant, he’s been amazing,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s had an unbelievable year so far. He’s been a leader. He’s been the best defender at times. He’s done everything for us.
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WASHINGTON (AP)—The Boston Celtics won their ninth straight game and their 10th in 11 road games. They had a player score his 20,000th point, another his 19,000th and held their opponents without a rebound for an entire quarter.
Even with all those superlatives, the Celtics didn’t secure their 104-102 win over the Washington Wizards until the final moments Thursday night.
It took Rajon Rondo’s(notes) driving dunk with a minute remaining to break a tie and help Boston (18-4) break a tie with Orlando—which lost at Utah later Thursday—for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
“We believe we can win games in any situation, and that’s a good sign,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.
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By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
Source Getty Image
The Boston Celtics appear willing to make major roster changes to balance a chance for a championship run and future financial flexibility.
The Celtics offered Ray Allen(notes) and Rajon Rondo(notes) to the Detroit Pistons for a package that included Richard Hamilton(notes), Tayshaun Prince(notes) and Rodney Stuckey(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Boston general manager Danny Ainge and Detroit’s Joe Dumars never spoke, but rather the Celtics had a lower-level executive make the pitch to a Pistons official over the past weekend, league sources said. Detroit immediately rejected the idea, and it never advanced to the two top executives speaking about particulars.
This isn’t an uncommon occurrence for a GM like Ainge to dispatch an underling to make that kind of a call, if for no other reason to give the top executive some level of deniability that he’s shopping his stars.
This isn’t the first time that Allen, a six-time All-Star, has been mentioned in trade talks this summer. Allen, who will soon turn 34, has an expiring contract of nearly $20 million, for next season. Rondo, 24, a rapidly developing point guard, has been publically termed off-limits by Ainge in trade discussion this summer. Nevertheless, his name found a way into this conversation. Rondo averaged 11.9 points, 8.2 assists and 5.2 rebounds in the regular season, and had three triple-doubles in the Celtics’ playoff run this season.
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