Turns out Deron Williams isn’t the only player who wasn’t a fan of his team’s deadline moves.
Rajon Rondo expressed some uncertainty about moving veteran Eddie House for Nate Robinson, in an article for NBA.com. Courtesy of Bryan Chu:
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” said Rondo on whether the team needed to make a trade. “I hope it’s for the best. Eddie House can drop 20, 30 [points off the bench] too. But [the players] don’t make decision, we just play the game.”
As for his relationship with Robinson: “We compete. We don’t really see each other, we speak, but I try to kill him every time I play him and I’m sure that’s probably his mentality.”
He did say that Robinson brings “energy and he can definitely score the ball in a million different ways. He’s a good defender.”
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Since Rondo started asserting himself, he’s been playing with the same unit. He’s used to the same flow, the same guys, and has been comfortable. The addition of Robinson is a player he doesn’t know, and the Celtics haven’t been exactly, um... friendly with their opponents during this run. They’re known as arrogant, brash, and confrontational, and Rondo’s the example, not exception.
We’ll have to see if the Celtics embrace Nate or if there’s conflict down the line.