Via Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:
Agent Bill Duffy said Celtics president Danny Ainge restarted talks by expressing a willingness to improve a possible offer to Rondo during a meeting at halftime of Boston’s 95-89 win in Cleveland on Tuesday. On Monday, Duffy told Yahoo! Sports that Rondo would not sign a contract extension with the Celtics and would become a restricted free agent next summer. The deadline for a possible extension is Saturday.
“Our position was firm, but Danny Ainge reached out and said they were willing to move,” Duffy told Yahoo! Sports in a phone interview. “Our mind was made up on this. But he said, ‘Let’s try to talk again, let us put some stuff together and talk [Wednesday].’ ”
Sounds like the Celtics are willing to increase their initial offer of 5-years, $45 million. The Rondo camp is reportedly seeking $11 - $12 million per year.
Here's Rondo's stat line from last night's game: 8 points, 4-8 FG, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 TOs
I though Rondo played a decent game. Anytime he gets double digit assists with a 5-1 assist/turnover ratio, I don't think it's fair to complain. But... I felt he could have pushed the ball upcourt more in the second half.
It's unfair to judge Rondo on this one game, but is the effort he put forth last night worthy of $11 million per year?