Rajon Rondo’s agent denies trade demand from Boston Celtics
Hours after Jackie MacMullan revealed on ESPN’s ‘Around the Horn’ that Boston Celtics point Rajon Rondo has demanded a trade, the damage control from Rondo’s party has begun.
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According to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald, Rondo’s camp has denied any reported trade demands.
Spokeswoman for Rajon Rondo's agent, Bill Duffy, said both men deny that Celtics guard has demanded a trade.
— Mark Murphy (@Murf56) September 1, 2014
With this particular situation, it’s difficult to pinpoint what’s really going on here. Typical protocol in the NBA is a rumor leaks and the agent immediately denies it whether true or not. But with Rondo and the Celtics, it’s easy to see both sides as reasonable.
On one end, Rondo may not want to partake in the current rebuild with Boston. In the last few years, all key parts of the 2008 championship team have abandoned the point guard–Ray Allen to Miami, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, Doc Rivers to Los Angeles–leaving him amidst Danny Ainge’s rebuild. The future looks bright for this franchise as Ainge has compiled an abundance of picks as well as drafted Marcus Smart 6th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, but Rondo may be past this situation at this point.
On the other end, Rondo has yet to fray away from the idea of being a Boston Celtics legend. Even with one of the more historical franchises in the history of the league, a franchise that has given us Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and many others, Rondo will go down as one of the best franchises in Celtics history and that seems to be important to him.
Obviously, this won’t be the end of Rondo trade rumors. He’s reportedly been on the block for the last two or three years and with an expiring contract, there’s on reason to believe Danny Ainge will quit gauging interest around the league.