Rajon Rondo is being mentioned in several NBA trade rumors once again, but reports indicated that the Boston Celtics plan to keep him in the long run despite strong interest from several teams.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said in an interview with the Berkshire Eagle that they have no plans to trade Rondo at this point, saying that the All-Star guard will play a big part for them in the 2014-15 NBA season.
"I love him," Stevens said of Rondo. "I really think he's a big part of what we're doing. Hopefully, he can have a great year right from the get-go. I thought last year was tough from the standpoint that he never did have a chance to do any drill work or to rebuild habits. He just had to be thrown into the fire."
Rondo played in only 30 games last season as he was coming off a surgery to repair a torn ACL, but the former Kentucky standout managed to show that he is still one of the elite players in the league.
Despite coming off a long layoff, the 25-year-old point guard averaged 11.7 points to go along with 9.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. Stevens is expecting a better season from Rondo, revealing that the veteran guard has been working hard this offseason.
"He's been great. He's been very active," Stevens said in an NBA trade rumors update. "He's been in and around Boston most of the summer. He just got back from a trip to China. He was back mid-last week. He's been in the weight room and been around every day."
But while the Celtics plan to keep Rondo in Boston, they will face big challenge next offseason as the four-time All-Star is expected to become an unrestricted free agent.
And according to Sean Deveney of Sporting News in an NBA trade rumors interview, the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Charlotte Hornets and the Dallas Mavericks are expected to make a run at signing Rondo.
Among the interested teams, the Rockets are expected to become the most aggressive team, but the Thunder and the Hornets have more intriguing assets to convince the Celtics to trade Rondo to them.
