The Latest Danny Ainge Comments Regarding Rajon Rondo

(Photo courtesy of Steve Neimand)

Danny Ainge spoke on WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" show earlier today and had some rather blunt comments in regards to his current starting point guard. All of the following quotes come courtesy of the Globe:

"We expect him to play by the rules and be a leader as a point guard. We need him to be more of a leader," Ainge said. "There were just a couple situations where he was late this year, I don't know if he was sitting in his car, but showed up late and the rest of the team was there. We have team rules and you have to be on time. He was fined for being late, he said he was stuck in traffic, and it's just unacceptable."

"As we saw in the Orlando series, they left him wide open," Ainge said. "His presence hurt us in winning right now because his man went and doubled onto Ray [Allen] and Paul [Pierce] and made it difficult for us."

"He's got to grow up in some cases, and I think he is, too," Ainge said. "Slowly but surely Rondo is maturing. He's getting a little bit more control over his emotions and he's responding in a more positive way as he gets older and more mature in the league."

"I think it's a good goal for Rondo to have just from a monetary standpoint, but to be that kind of player that warrants a max contract -- I certainly don't see Rondo as a max-contract player today," Ainge said. "Next summer is a summer where we'll probably have to make some financial conclusions about Rondo if we don't come to a conclusion this summer."