LAS VEGAS – The ink had yet to dry on the contracts of LeBron James(notes), Chris Bosh(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes) before Las Vegas oddsmakers declared the Miami Heat the favorites to win the NBA’s 2011 championship.

Those oddsmakers apparently didn’t consult Rajon Rondo(notes).

The Boston Celtics’ confident young point guard doesn’t see any reason why the Heat should be favored to reach the NBA Finals ahead of his own team.

“They should be good, but they ain’t done nothing yet,” Rondo said after a recent practice during Team USA’s minicamp. “They ain’t done nothing.”

Rondo has already won one championship with the Celtics and came within a game last season of beating the Los Angeles Lakers for another. With Boston’s core returning next season, Rondo expects the Celtics to return to the Finals if they can stay healthy. Whatever challenge the remade Heat pose, Rondo isn’t fretting it.

“What is there to be nervous for?” he said. “I’m worried about L.A. That’s the team we need to beat. Miami looks really good on paper, and I’m sure they’re going to be really good. But they still have to come together as a team. I’m not saying they won’t, but who knows if those guys can jell?

“Our biggest opponent each night is ourselves – that’s how I look at it. Not to be cocky or anything, but that’s how we honestly feel. We are the defending [Eastern] champs. Once the first game of the regular season starts, that’s irrelevant. But we are going to go into training camp looking to get back to the Finals and win it.”

Rondo was just 21 and in his second season in the league when the Celtics traded for Ray Allen(notes) and Kevin Garnett(notes) to form their Big Three lineup with Paul Pierce(notes). Allen has said it took nearly the entire season for the Celtics to truly come together. They won 66 games that season before winning the championship.