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Celtics, Rondo discuss extension
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 HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The Boston Celtics have had talks with point guard Rajon Rondo about a contract extension, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Thursday.
However, Ainge said the restrictive nature of the collective bargaining agreement makes it more likely that talks will escalate after this season,
“We did talk to Rondo about extending him,” Ainge said during his weekly appearance on Boston sports radio 98.5 the SportsHub. “But that’s all part of the negotiation that will happen again this summer and most likely the summer after.
“In the collective bargaining agreement, there are limits on what can and can’t be done. Really, it’s not that Rondo doesn’t want to accept an extension, as much as it’s just not financially smart for him to accept it right now. We didn’t think he would (sign), but we did try.”
Ainge said he did not want to discuss negotiation details through the media.
“I think that Rondo will demand quite a bit in the open market,” Ainge said. “The competition for Rondo in free agency will be very high.”
Next season will be Rondo’s last from his five-year, $55 million extension that he signed in October of 2009.
Rondo returned last week from an almost one-year absence after tearing his ACL. He appeared in three games before sitting out Wednesday night’s win in Washington as a precaution as he eases his way back and limits his minutes.
Rondo was also the topic of trade rumors less than a week ago.
