Boston Celtics Rumors: Celtics Must Work Hard To Keep Rajon Rondo Happy

The rumor mill has put the Boston Celtics in a tough spot. 

As Paul Flannery of Boston's WEEI detailed, the Celtics have apparently reached out to the Hornets about the availability of point guard Chris Paul. Naturally, that rumored trade would have involved the Celtics sending their point guard, Rajon Rondo, to New Orleans. 

In response to the rumor, ESPN's Chris Broussard quoted a source as saying that Paul wouldn't sign a contract extension for Boston, thus making the rumored trade a one-year rental.

In the above article, Flannery quoted team President Danny Ainge as saying the following:

"

Rondo knows that we love him. He’s excited to come back and play basketball. He gets a lot of attention. He’s a great player. There’s a lot of people that call me and ask me about Rondo. How these rumors get out is unfortunate but we didn’t leak those rumors out and we’ll deal with it. He’ll be fine.

"

Well, Ainge and the Celtics had better hope that Rondo sees all of that. 

It's true that we don't know how rumors get started. Some are legitimate, but others come from nowhere. Still, this seems to be problematic.

If Rondo so much as suspects that there is any truth to these rumors, how is he supposed to react to all of this? It doesn't seem good.

We're not far from Rondo being the man in Boston. Kevin Garnett (35) and Ray Allen (36) are in the final year of their respective contracts. Paul Pierce is 34. Even though his contract runs longer than Garnett or Allen, he's certainly not going to be playing at a high level for much longer.

That leaves Rondo as Boston's star. He'll be 26 in February, so there's a long way to go for him. But if he has a hunch that his team was trying to unload him, it can't really bode well for his long-term future. 

Rondo's not far from being the guy in Boston. That's what the Celtics need to consider. If they can't get a player like Paul, then the Celtics need to find a way to build around Rondo. 

If that's going to happen, it's only logical that Rondo needs to believe that the Celtics want him around. It's their responsibility to make that happen.