Thursday, March 1, 2012

Celtics foolish to trade Rajon Rondo

We know that the Boston Celtics are an old team. I mean really old, almost geriatric. And not only are they old but if you’ve seen them play this year they look old as well.

Their only saving grace has been the young legs of Rajon Rondo who leads the team in assists, steals per game and minutes per game. With Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen in the twilight of their careers it would be better to keep Rondo and build around him rather than throw him out with the bath water.

Unfortunately the Celtics’ general manager Danny Ainge has been shopping Rondo around to see what they can get back in return for him. This would make more sense if the Celtics were a player or two away from being a championship contender but regardless of whether they keep Rondo or not they will be in rebuilding mode come next year.

So what is Ainge’s game plan? Does he expect to trade Rondo for a player he believes he can better build around or does he think he can bring back a package of draft picks and/or players for Rondo?

Well let’s look at that first option. Rondo is a very good player. He’s a top notch defender who has the potential to be a more dominant scorer but he has always deferred to Allen, Pierce and Garnett in the go-to-scoring department. There really isn’t another player in the league that the Celtics could bring in with a straight up trade who would be a significantly better foundation to build a team around.

Option two could potentially be a better option but with Ainge at the helm it really won’t do them much good. Ainge could probably get a few players for Rondo but those players will be supporting-level talents at best, not players you can build around.

And draft picks would be nice but there is only one problem with that. Ainge has done a poor job picking up talent in the draft so unless they can pick up a top five pick, then they are better off keeping Rondo. Any picks that Ainge would be able to bring back in a trade for Rondo will more likely fall outside of the lottery.

A mixture of both could happen but once again no team is going to give up a top notch player and a high draft pick. The best case scenario would be a B-level talent and a mid-first-round selection in the draft.

Trading Rondo with one of the big three or another Celtics’ player won’t bring much back in return either, at least nothing that will benefit the Celtics in the long term. Teams like Orlando, New Orleans, Toronto, Utah, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Lakers could be in the market for an All-Star caliber point guard like Rondo but what do these teams have to offer Boston in return?

There’s little quality talent in Toronto and New Orleans and I doubt the Hornets would give up one of their picks for Rondo with all of the talented players who will be making themselves available for this year’s draft. The Lakers usually pick near the bottom of the draft every year and are a pretty old team themselves.

Pau Gasol for Rondo trade rumors have swirled around but at Gasol’s age, he won’t make Boston a better team. The only player that Boston would be interested in is Andrew Bynum and the Lakers weren’t even willing to trade him for Chris Paul.

Rondo for DeMarcus Cousins would be a nice trade but the Kings aren’t looking to part with him. Tyreke Evan may actually be available and could really blossom under coach Doc Rivers’ tutelage but that may not work salary-wise without the Kings taking back players they don’t want.

Utah may be willing to part ways with either Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson but neither one of those players would make a good foundation to build around. Millsap is short for a power forward and is really just a more skilled version of Brandon Bass. Jefferson has had some serious injuries since leaving Boston in the Garnett trade. Those injuries have robbed him of some of his explosiveness and mobility.

The Orlando Magic need Rondo the most as they are looking for someone to compliment Dwight Howard and convince him to stay in Orlando. The Magic don’t have any assets that the Celtics would want and will also be picking outside the lottery.

It’s still possible that one of these trade scenarios could happen or some other team could come calling, especially if a team is looking for major cap relief. Both Garnett and Allen are in the last year of their contracts but Boston would be better off letting both of these players come off the books so that they will have cap room to sign players in the future.

No the Celtics should appreciate having a talent like Rondo on the team who is still young enough to build around. If they showcase him more, then he could make Boston a more attractive place for potential free agents to land as well as ease the rebuilding process for the Celtics. Who knows, maybe Rondo will get a chance to truly make this his team; that is if he can survive the trade deadline.

Roosevelt Hall is an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2 and also writes for Shatter The Backboard. He can be contacted at RHall@shatterthebackboard.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.  


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