Rajon Rondo: How Star PG Has Proven He's Boston Celtics Next Franchise Player

Beantown, say hello to your next franchise player—Rajon Rondo.

While Rondo's Game 7 triple-double of 20 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds wasn't enough to will the Boston Celtics to the 2012 NBA Finals, it solidifies the potential that exists in his game. 

This postseason, Rondo's been the most explosive and the most productive Celtics player, with averages of 17.2 points, 11.9 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.

His postseason averages are all major increases from his 2011-12 regular-season averages of 11.9 points, 11.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

In addition to that explosion of production, Rondo, who's often criticized for his lack of offensive efficiency, shot 47 percent from the field during the postseason, as compared to the 44.8 percent average he accumulated during the regular season. 

Rondo's emergence this postseason as the Celtics next franchise player was capped up back in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals when he exploded for 44 points on 66.7 percent shooting, with 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Even though the Celtics lost that overtime thriller, it was a statement game for Rajon Rondo regarding the future of the Celtics franchise.

His 44 points and near triple-double wasn't even the most impressive piece of his career performance. What spoke much louder than his production was the confidence and leadership that he put on display.

The confidence that Rondo led with is something that not only has helped the Celtics extend the Eastern Conference finals to a Game 7, it's also what the Celtics will build around for the years to come.

With Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen becoming free agents at the end of this year, and a total of just four players under contract next season—not including Brandon Bass (player option) and Greg Stiemsma (qualifying offer)—it's time for the Celtics to prepare for life without the original big three.

Even if the Celtics are able to financially afford bringing back both Garnett and Allen for another year or two they shouldn't.  It's time to start building the franchise around one of the premier players in the NBA—Rajon Rondo.

Having a complete player with the skill set of Rondo is a rare commodity in the NBA.

For some time we knew that Rondo was one of the most complete players on both sides of the ball in the NBA, but this postseason he's developed into the leader that Boston fans have been waiting for him to become.

At times Rondo's confidence gets him in trouble.  It leads to him playing like he's above the rules of the game, like when he was ejected against the Atlanta Hawks for clearly bumping into a referee.

Aside from the few times when Rondo loses his focus, his confident personality and his fearless approach to the game is at the core of what makes him such an elite competitor and a true franchise talent in the NBA.

Rondo is also ready to be the Celtics franchise player because he is the kind of player who makes everybody else around him look and play that much better.

Yes, guys like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are superstars in and of themselves, but at the same time, Rondo's made people forget about the fact that they are both nearing the end of their careers by creating easy scoring opportunities for them nearly every time down the court.

Rondo has also helped players like Keyon Dooling, Mickael Pietrus and Brandon Bass develop into solid role players for the Celtics, which goes to show just how talented of a player Rondo truly is.

With more questions than answers surrounding the Celtics heading into the 2012-13 season, Rondo is the kind of player the Celtics can build around while relying on him to make those players around him better as the Celtics prepare for the long-term future of their franchise.

While the Celtics 2011-12 season is over, it wasn't a failure by any means.

In addition to being one win away from a surprise appearance in the 2012 NBA Finals, they've found out who the future of their franchise is going to be.

This postseason, the Celtics big three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce officially passed the torch to Rajon Rondo, and that's great news for the future of the Celtics franchise.