Rajon Rondo and Mark Cuban both expressed a desire not to rent the new situation together with the Dallas Mavericks, who acquried Rondo in a trade from the Boston Celtics.

“Obviously, we wouldn’t give up picks if we didn’t think it was long term,” Cuban said. “We’re past the days of rent-a-player.

“If he’s not the definition of a cornerstone, I don’t know what is. But let me qualify that. With him side by side with Monta (Ellis) and (Tyson) Chandler, there’s no one guy who will be the cornerstone of the team. So having a good young nucleus — for us the young nucleus used to be 35 — to get that number down to 28 or 29 is something we want to keep together.”

Rondo could sign a five-year, $107 million max contract with the Mavericks next summer.

“I’m definitely excited and optimistic about the situation here,” said Rondo, who’ll make $12.9 million this season. “And like Mark was saying, being alongside a guy like Monta and they just re-signed Chandler, the future seems bright and I’m just looking forward to winning a championship as fast as possible and hopefully we can keep this team together.”