Danny Ainge likes Rondo and so do the Lakers

In Chris Mannix’ latest column, he details the awfulness (” The Lakers are bad. Really bad.”) of the Lakers and whether they should entertain trade offers for Kobe Bryant. Mannix is hearing from rival executives that Los Angeles will make a push for Rajon Rondo:

There is one player who makes sense in LA next season: Rajon Rondo. Several rival executives believe the Lakers will make a strong run at Rondo next summer, and it’s easy to see why. Rondo is young (28), plays a critical position and shares the same win-at-all-bleeping-cost attitude as Bryant. The Celtics are rebuilding and have a young playmaker in Marcus Smart, which may limit their desire to hand Rondo max money.

But Los Angeles had a boatload of money last summer too and all they could do was overpay their own players ($9 million for Jordan Hill?) and absorb Jeremy Lin. They tried to improve — Bryant has attested to tha t– but playing in purple and gold wasn’t all that appealing to free agents, for whatever reason.Who knows if next summer’s crop will think any differently.

The thought of Rondo in purple and yellow gives me the shakes. But if Danny Ainge decides to move on from RR, the Lakers are a logical destination.

During his weekly interview on 98.5, Ainge (yet again) reinforced his desire to keep Rondo in Boston:

“Everybody knows the circumstances with Rajon,” Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, said this morning on 98.5 the Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show. “Rajon is a free agent at the end of the summer. We like Rajon. And Rajon has the freedom to go anywhere else. So we have to make this an attractive place for him to want to stay. And he has to play well enough for us to want to pay him.”

“I thought (Wednesday) night was the best game of his season,” Ainge said. “I loved his energy. Now he’s starting to get his legs under him after missing all of training camp.”

But is he worth a max contract which is reportedly what he’s seeking in his next deal?

“I’m not going to negotiate with Rondo in the media, of course,” Ainge said. “But suffice it to say, we really like Rondo.”

Love him or hate him, you have to admit Rondo is playing extremely well through 4 games. He’s nearly averaging a triple double (9 ppg, 9 rpg, 12.5 apg). The 12.5 assists is good for the league lead.

And his numbers are rare. How rare?

It’s not all roses, Rondo is averaging 4.5 TOs per game and shooting a mediocre 43%.