Sign 9

Whether Danny Ainge makes some midnight Monday moves, or if the Celtics President decides to wait until the offseason to match an offer sheet, there is only one priority for the Boston Brass. Sign 9.

As a fan, I could care less if they try and save a few bucks by locking up Rondo now, or letting their dynamic point guard prove his market value in a quasi-contract year and possibly pay a larger price tag by matching a large offer before next season. As long as Rajon Rondo is holding the keys to the team next year that, at this point, looks like the odds on favorite to be the defending champs, I will be okay. In my opinion, the kid has earned it.

Prior to the start of the season, if you had to have four criticism of Rajon Rondo they would be the following. He can't shoot the jumper or free throws. He's too small and skinny to defend bigger point guards. His dedication/maturity. His contract situation.

Rondo hit the weights and gained pounds of muscle in order to withstand the beating he takes on a regular basis. (Sure he flops worse than the Italian World Cup team, he takes his fair share of legitimate hits too.) The added weight will help him stand his ground against the bigger point guards who will try and back him down.

Rondo worked with Mark Price and shot thousands of shots over the summer. We haven't really seen the effects of that work play out yet, as the guy has barely had to shoot this season, but the fact that he was willing to put in the work shows that he is committed to improving as a player.

The last few season it has been obvious that Rondo seems to take nights off against some of the weaker competition. He even admitted as much in recent interviews. This year he has shown a renewed hunger to punish any point that is put in front of him. This was obvious by the 10 point, 11 assist night he had agains the Bobcats. Rondo's totals outmatched the numbers of D.J. Augustine and Raymond Felton, who had 10 points, 7 assists combined. Rondo then went out and had a career high 16 assists in the marquee matchup against Derrick Rose in Chicago (also in three quarters work).

What more do you want in your fourth year point guard? Unless something crazy happens in the next 24 hours, Rajon Rondo will be playing the rest of the season for a contract. This after his team's front office shopped him around and bad-mouthed him in the media. Rondo kept giving the company line, focusing on the season to come, and throwing standard cliches out like they alley-oops in the All-Star game.

Most players in a contract year would be looking to put up gaudy scoring numbers while simultaneously trying to keep from getting hurt. In the Celtics 10-point win over the Hornets, after Kendrick Perkins stole the ball and threw it out to Rondo, he rewarded his big man's effort by dishing it back to him, forgoing an easy two that would have beefed up his own stats. To this point, Rondo has put his scoring on the backburner and looked to get other Celtics involved, and other point guards off their game. After this point he has kept his teammates happy, and his opponents the exact opposite. Rondo harassed Chris Paul, badly picking his pocket on one play, giving him a little extra on a foul on another play. The two ended up getting double techs, and again had to be separated after the game ended. The point is, after going toe-to-toe with the consensus top point guard in the leauge, Rondo came out on top. Again.

So if the Celtics decide to give Rondo and his agent what they are asking for now, or if they want to wait out the year and see if the market values him with the likes of Chris Paul, is fine with me. Fine as long as in the end, they sign 9.

Three thoughtful things...