Questions will continue to circle around Rajon Rondo's future until next summer when free agency is complete. The point guard is set to become a restricted free agent on a team that is still rebuilding following the loss of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Rondo is not giving any hints as to his mindset after this season in order to keep leverage in his favor, but most expect a trade is inevitable at this point.
The chances that Rondo re-signs with Boston are looking less than 50-50 at this point. The Celtics knew they needed to start to make roster improvements in order to help retain the point guard. Acquiring Kevin Love would have certainly helped the effort, but that failed after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the race for the forward. Now the Celtics are left scratching their heads at what to do.
According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, a trade of Rondo is inevitable at this point and could possibly happen during the mid-season trading period. Rondo will be looking to cash in. The point guard will be a max player seeking a deal greater than $100 million. It is unclear just how willing the Celtics are to give up that kind of money which only fuels the Rondo trade rumors even more.
Kyler believes the Celtics will be looking to package Rondo with Jeff Green and help clear cap space altogether if they opt to deal. Green is another player who's name is coming up in trade rumors over the past year. He has the option of hitting free agency and the odds are good that he opts out. The Celtics would ideally like to rid themselves of the $9.2 million remaining on his contract.
Any trade of these two players is not coming this summer. Most teams are maxed out on what they can take on money wise and deals that both Rondo and Green have are unattainable. Even a mid-season trade could be out of the question. Ideally, is Boston has no intentions of re-signing either player, they look for a trade sooner rather than later. So who could be interested?
The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are the first two teams that come up. The Rockets have been eyeing Rondo for some time now and were linked multiple times to the point guard, especially after dealing Jeremy Lin. They cannot afford to make a deal this offseason, but next year could be when they sign him off the market. The Los Angeles Lakers will target Rondo heavily. They lose Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin at the end of the upcoming season. The point guard will be a priority.
