There seems to be some differences of opinion when it comes to the health of point guard Rajon Rondo. After tearing his ACL back in January of last season, not too many reports have come out regarding how healthy he is and where his rehab stands. Rondo is the last remaining bit of star power on the Celtics and essential to the season. While general manager Danny Ainge predicts the regular season opening night as Rondo's return date, Paul Pierce predicts mid-season.
There is plenty of pressure for Rondo to return as quickly as possible to the Boston Celtics lineup. While Ainge admits that he is being very patient in his point guard's recovery, he is hoping Rondo is back by opening night. He believes late October is a reasonable target date to be fully healthy again.
Rondo had surgery to repair the torn tendon in February, so returning in October would be about eight months. That is an aggressive time table considering the last ACL tear the NBA saw took over year to heal. Boston is hoping to avoid a Derrick Rose situation. The Chicago Bulls star sat out the entire 2012-13 season in order to heal his torn ACL. If that ends up being the case with Rondo, Boston has a real issue on their hands.
While Ainge might be predicting October for Rondo, both Pierce and Kevin Garnett believe the point guard will not see the court until December at the earliest. Pierce has been concerned that the transition with the Celtics could be difficult for Rondo and urged him not to rush a return because there was no real reason to hurry back.
"Right now, he's injured and I told him this is probably going to be the toughest year of your whole career, mentally and physically," Pierce said. "Physically, you're dealing with an injury. Mentally, you know nothing but winning since you came into the league."
Rondo certainly has his hands full at the moment. He is expected to be the team's leader after the departure of Pierce, Garnett and long-time head coach Doc Rivers. While the team has said they are encouraged by Rondo's rehab, pierce does not want him to jump on the court quickly, noting though that it might be hard to keep the point guard pinned down for too long.
"You have to go through these times. I've been through them. I explained to him how I went through it. I feel like, I'm on of the best players in the league now," Pierce said. "Rondo is going to be in that situation for maybe one year or two years, who knows? But, you have to be mentally prepared for it, and that's some of the things we talked about."
