Boston Agrees to Trade Rajon Rondo to Dallas

The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade four-time all-star point guard Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks.  Boston will receive Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, Jameer Nelson, along with two draft picks.  The trade, confirmed by the Celtics and Mavericks, ends Rondo’s nine years with the Celtics, a stretch that includes the 2008 NBA championship.   It leaves the Celtics clearly positioning themselves for the long-term future with a hefty collection of draft picks.

Now although Rondo (pictured on the left) has continued to distribute the ball well this year, his points per game average and free throw percentage have taken a hit this year.  He’s is shooting a career-low .333 and his scoring average dipped to 8.3 points per game, his lowest since his rookie season of 2006-07, when he averaged 6.4.

Rondo is in the final year of a five-year, $55 million contract he signed back in 2009.  Talks of a contract extension between the Celtics and Rondo had come up over the past two years, Ainge said, but signing an extension with the Celtics didn’t make sense financially for Rondo, who could explore the riches of the open market this summer.

“To be able to get a guy like Rondo, it’s unbelievable,” Maverick Chandler Parsons told 103.3 FM in Dallas on Thursday.  “It’s not every day that you can get a point guard of his status, and the way he can pass the ball, he’s a difference-maker.’’