Ainge: ‘No truth' to Rondo trade rumors

Share

Even if you've been living under a rock, you've heard the Rajon Rondo trade rumors.

"He doesn't get along with Doc Rivers," some say. "He has a bad attitude." Yadda, yadda, yadda . . .

But president Danny Ainge and coach Doc Rivers did their best to put an end to all that talk today (but let's be honest, it'll never die).

Ainge spoke to multiple media outlets on Rondo, and to sum things up, denounced all the rumors and said that not only was Rondo not being "actively" shopped, he's thought of as a big part of the Celtics going forward.

"No truth," Ainge said on WEEI when asked if any of the recent trade rumors held any water.

"First of all let me jut say this, these things get out of control at this time of year. I think you guys know we are not actively trying to trade Rondo. We talked about it this summerwe said no we're not trying to actively trade Rondo. And that's still the case.

"He's our best player. He's the most important player to our futureit makes no sense."

So, Ainge isn't saying anything new that he didn't say prior to the start of the season when the Celtics reportedly tried to trade him for Chris Paul. The key word he's using is "actively".

He's not making the calls. He'll certainly take them -- after all, why not? -- but the idea that Rondo is this locker room cancer that is eating away at the team morale must be off-base.

"We are not looking to trade him. I've made zero calls to try to trade him, and I won't," Ainge said.

So where are all the rumors coming from then?

"I think it's just the world we live ingoing back a few months it's reported that Rondo is actively trying to be traded, which wasn't truebut yet there's still lingering out there that it is true."

But surely the Rajon Rondo - Pau Gasol rumor that we've been hearing about for weeks is something, right?

"So the Gasol thing comes outno truth in that, that's never been discussed. There's no truth in any of that," Ainge said.

"The perception is we are trying to because there has been two or three things reported," Ainge said.

"We know what goes on in the media world. ESPN has all the media showsnobody called me to check up and see if it was true or not, and I'm not sure they care."

Ah yes, the old "credibility" issue. Is there such thing anymore? It seems that every day there's a new source and a new story, many times of which amounts to nothing.

A common one these days is just how bad a person Rondo is to deal with. But Ainge is quick to say that Rondo has only gotten better, so why would that warrant a trade?

Ainge said that Rondo has made "incredible strides" this season in terms of attitude, adding, "We all know that Rondo and Rivers had bumps in the road, but Rondo is getting better at that stuff. He's had his best year on and off the court."

He also makes the point that with great players comes the "diva" mentality. Does Rondo have it? Sure. But don't act like he's the only one who happens to be stubborn.

"I don't think that's fair. I think that he's stubborn and he's intelligent," Ainge said. "So with that there's higher maintenance, but I don't know a quality player that I played with that wasn't higher maintenance than your other players."

Contact Us