NBA Rumors: Rajon Rondo done in Boston?

The NBA rumor mill is a blessing and a curse Pippen Peoples.

It’s a blessing on many days in the offseason when writers are starved to write about anything, even down to what LeBron James had for breakfast this morning.

It’s a curse because 85-90 percent of it is grade “F” garbage. However, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard and Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski has shown us with LeBron James going back to Cleveland, no rumor can be ignored.

Now that it is almost a foregone conclusion that Kevin Love will be traded to Cleveland, the NBA rumor mill needs a big name star to talk about…every day.

Hello Rajon Rondo! Come on down! You’re the next contestant on Pippen Ain’t Easy’ NBA rumor mill!

Rajon Rondo is one of the NBA’s best point guards and is a free agent at the end of this season. Rondo has already said that they are going to table the contract talks until the offseason, which practically means “we’ll see how the season goes, and see if I want to play here anymore”. You get to the point with some of these star players, like Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo that these guys don’t want to be with there current teams any more. If you are Boston or Minnesota you have to realize that you have to capitalize on your assets now, or at least by February. However, I think the Celtics need to capitalize now in order to increase their lottery odds at having the number one pick.

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Bill Simmons is the number one Celtics supporter on ESPN. He supports his team but he isn’t one of those guys that believes that the Celtics are best team in the NBA or even has one of the games top players. On the B.S. Report Podcast on July 28th, Bill Simmons was speaking with Joe House and talking of course about the Rajon Rondo situation. In the interview, Simmons said that he believed Rondo is gone in the 2015 offseason. So Simmons doesn’t understand why if you’re the Celtics, why not try and trade him.

I have spoke to various amounts of Celtics fans, some from the Boston area and some from Illinois area. Everybody I have talked to have said the same thing; that Boston shouldn’t try and trade Rajon Rondo. This is why fans don’t have a good source of judgement, they become attached to these players and it sadly clouds their judgement. If you are the Celtics you have to make a trade and collect big time for Rondo’s services. But the question is, what can they realistically get for Rondo?

Bill Simmons answered that question, at least sort of, on the B.S. Report on July 28th. Simmons said if he was the Celtics that he would be calling the Knicks and offering them a deal for Rondo. When talking with Joe House, Simmons went heavily on the first trade offer, seeing what Joe House thought. The first trade was:

Boston would get:

– Amare Stoudemire

-Tim Hardaway Jr.

-CleAnthony Early

-2018 unprotected first round pick

-2020 unprotected first round pick

Knicks would get:

-Rajon Rondo

-Gerald Wallace

-Jeff Green

I love this trade for both sides but I think the Knicks would believe they are giving up a little bit too much, and Joe House agreed with that. Even to some point Simmons realized that the trade was a little too rich and countered with:

Boston would get: 

-Amare Stoudemire

-2018 Unprotected First Rounder

-2020 Unprotected First Rounder

Knicks would get: 

-Rajon Rondo

-Gerald Wallace

This trade makes a lot more sense for both sides, I know that a lot of the Boston fans are going to get mad about the whole Amare trade. I get it, he’s not what he was, but that’s not why you are making the trades. Honestly, you are trying to get rid of back contracts as soon as you can, which would be you giving up Gerald Wallace. Really the deal is about collecting more future assets in draft picks, and getting rid of Gerald Wallace. One problem with the deal, the way it’d work, i’m sure the Celtics would be willing to pass on one first rounder for Hardaway or CleAnthony Early. The Celtics have enough future draft picks, they need to start turning those into players.

Apr 14, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (9) and head coach Brad Stevens during the first quarter of the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

Another interesting point they made was about if you are the Knicks, why wouldn’t you go for it for this season. The Eastern Conference has never been more easy to grab then right now. A team who isn’t great could easily win the Eastern Conference this year. The Bulls are a good team but they aren’t unbeatable and either are the Cavaliers. So no, it wouldn’t be completely crazy if we saw the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals this season, even with their current roster construction.

Why should the Celtics go for this trade now, rather than on the February trade deadline? The value of Rajon Rondo will never be higher because right now if you look at the Celtics roster its bad. Rondo is a setup man, that needs shooters in order to have success. He isn’t going to have any and his assist numbers and shot percentage numbers are going to be down this season. Come on, do the right thing Boston, trade Rajon Rondo. Either you trade him and you’re mad or you let him walk and you are furious.

What’s it going to be?