Celtics Ink Rondo To Extension

The fanbase of the Boston Celtics can now rest easy as according to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the team and guard Rajon Rondo have agreed on a deal which would keep him in Boston for the next five seasons; thisnews has been confirmed by Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy.

According to Duffy, he called the Celtics brass on Sunday, informing them that Rondo was prepared to play out this season and become a restricted free agent; however, Celtics president Danny Ainge apparently surprised Duffy by replying that the team was prepared to meet Rondo’s contract request.

If the Celtics had opted to let Rondo walk, he would have easily been the top point guard in the elite free agent class of 2010 (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are in this group) and definitely would have received plenty of attention from potential suitors. Prior to the newly inked deal, Rondo would have been a restricted free agent, Boston would have had the right to match any offers given to Rondo.

Incidentally, the contract is for 5 years and $55 million, relatively identical to the deal signed by San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker back in 2004. With the Celtics’ star players being north of 30 years old (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rasheed Wallace and Ray Allen), Rondo now becomes a core piece to the Celtics’ short- and long-term future.