Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics have agreed in principle to a 5-year, 55-million dollar contract extension today, as reported in the Boston Herald. Details are sketchy as to the particulars of the deal, and a source close to negotiations told the Herald that it's "not a done deal yet." 

Recently, David Aldridge at nba.com has reported that Rondo's agent, Bill Duffy has confirmed that an agreement has been reached, saying the Celtics indicated late last night that they were willing to meet Rondo's original contract demands.

By reaching an agreement today, the Celtics avoided the possibility of Rondo becoming a restricted free agent next summer.  While restricted free agents rarely leave their teams, next summer could have been an exception with at least 10 teams having the ability to offer Rondo the kind of contract offer he accepted today.  By upping their offer by 10 million dollars (from 45 million over 5 years, which was their original offer), the Celtics may have ended up saving themselves another 10 million next summer.

By coming to an agreement now, all questions and speculation concerning Rondo's future in Boston are settled for the time being, as the extension makes Rondo virtually untradeable (due to the NBA's base compensation rule) for the next 3 years. And while it appeared that neither Rondo nor the Celtics were distracted by the intense media speculation regarding a possible extension agreement, it is also safe to conclude that coming to an agreement now as opposed to next summer puts Boston in its best position to secure Banner #18.  

If these details are correct, Rondo's new contract agreement will put him just outside the top 5 of NBA highest paid point guards, in terms of average dollars per season.  When the extension kicks in during the 2010-2011 season, Rondo will have the 6th highest average salary of any NBA point guard, tied with Steve Nash, Monta Ellis, and Tony Parker, making an average of 11 million dollars per season.

With Rondo's extension in hand, the Cs may now look towards working out an extension agreement with impending free agent Ray Allen.

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Rondo Extended for $55 million over 5 years
Monday, 02 November 2009
Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics have agreed in principle to a 5-year, 55-million dollar contract extension today, as reported in the Boston...

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