Does anyone else think it's NUTS that we're even discussing trading Rondo?

[BballTim]

  We won one title, it's pretty much time to rebuild.

First of all...are you serious?

Second of all...even if you are, why would you trade the one player on the team that you can still rebuild around?

  No, I wasn't being serious.

[BballTim]

  We won one title, it's pretty much time to rebuild.

So rebuilding is trading away our best young player?

  More like trading away our best young player will lead to a rebuild. People read a bunch of nonsense about how easy it is to shut down the team by not guarding Rondo, or how he's a terrible defender or wildly inconsistent and figure that he's easily replaceable.

[BballTim]

I never think its nuts to explore what kind of value you can get for players, and see if you can improve the team for both the short and long term.  I have a feeling there is not a deal out there that makes sense to give up Rondo (or Ray for that matter), but I don't think its nuts to see what is out there.

Agreed. You never know when you're going to find a GM as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here.

I wish that person was George Shinn.

  Most people wish we could trade Rondo for Chris Paul. We should also call about LeBron or Wade for Rondo. Seriously, though, I'd rather Ainge be "as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here" than people who are pushing to ship him out of town on the next bus in case he wants decent money for his next contract.

[Chris]

I never think its nuts to explore what kind of value you can get for players, and see if you can improve the team for both the short and long term.  I have a feeling there is not a deal out there that makes sense to give up Rondo (or Ray for that matter), but I don't think its nuts to see what is out there.

Agreed. You never know when you're going to find a GM as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here.

I wish that person was George Shinn.

  Most people wish we could trade Rondo for Chris Paul. We should also call about LeBron or Wade for Rondo. Seriously, though, I'd rather Ainge be "as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here" than people who are pushing to ship him out of town on the next bus in case he wants decent money for his next contract.

There are always extremes.  Personally, I think it is just as nuts to not listen to explore options at all, as it is to be dead set on sending Rondo out of town for 60 cents on the dollar. 

Strange things happen in the NBA.  Sometimes sweetheart deals come along...especially after young players come off impressive performances.  A GM wouldn't be doing his job if he was not seeing what was out there, and seeing if there was a way to better his team, even if its at the expense of a good young player.

And just as an example, a couple of years ago, there were a LOT of people on this site who felt Al Jefferson was completely untouchable.  He was the golden child.  But aren't you glad Danny was still keeping his eyes open for the right opportunity then? 

I am not saying another KG deal is going to show up...but you never know what deals could present themselves if you don't get too attached to certain players.

[BballTim]

I never think its nuts to explore what kind of value you can get for players, and see if you can improve the team for both the short and long term.  I have a feeling there is not a deal out there that makes sense to give up Rondo (or Ray for that matter), but I don't think its nuts to see what is out there.

Agreed. You never know when you're going to find a GM as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here.

I wish that person was George Shinn.

  Most people wish we could trade Rondo for Chris Paul. We should also call about LeBron or Wade for Rondo. Seriously, though, I'd rather Ainge be "as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here" than people who are pushing to ship him out of town on the next bus in case he wants decent money for his next contract.

There are always extremes.  Personally, I think it is just as nuts to not listen to explore options at all, as it is to be dead set on sending Rondo out of town for 60 cents on the dollar. 

  But most of the options that are discussed are just bad for the team. It doesn't always matter if it's 60 cents on the dollar, a dollar on a dollar or a buck and a quarter on the dollar. People are talking about shipping him out in deals for prospects and draft picks leaving a gaping hole in our backcourt. Some of the "Ray and Rondo" deals leave 2 holes in our backcourt. I'm all for looking into Rondo for Chris Paul, but not for players like Gay and Hawes and draft picks, which strengthen our bench and weaken our team.

[Chris]

I never think its nuts to explore what kind of value you can get for players, and see if you can improve the team for both the short and long term.  I have a feeling there is not a deal out there that makes sense to give up Rondo (or Ray for that matter), but I don't think its nuts to see what is out there.

Agreed. You never know when you're going to find a GM as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here.

I wish that person was George Shinn.

  Most people wish we could trade Rondo for Chris Paul. We should also call about LeBron or Wade for Rondo. Seriously, though, I'd rather Ainge be "as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here" than people who are pushing to ship him out of town on the next bus in case he wants decent money for his next contract.

There are always extremes.  Personally, I think it is just as nuts to not listen to explore options at all, as it is to be dead set on sending Rondo out of town for 60 cents on the dollar. 

  But most of the options that are discussed are just bad for the team. It doesn't always matter if it's 60 cents on the dollar, a dollar on a dollar or a buck and a quarter on the dollar. People are talking about shipping him out in deals for prospects and draft picks leaving a gaping hole in our backcourt. Some of the "Ray and Rondo" deals leave 2 holes in our backcourt. I'm all for looking into Rondo for Chris Paul, but not for players like Gay and Hawes and draft picks, which strengthen our bench and weaken our team.

See, I think a trade where we got two young stars, or a young star (like Hawes or Gay) and a high lottery pick could strengthen our team a great deal.  If you are just losing Rondo, but adding Hawes (who really solidifies our front line) and a lottery pick to give us a true 6th man like Harden, then the C's would be a free agent PG away from being much improved in my opinion, and it would also give the C's a much brighter future to have two blue chip players to build around, instead of just 1.

Now, I understand if you don't agree with it, but I have to say that to think its nuts is at best an overstatement, and at worst, blatent homerism.

[mahonedog88]

Maybe I am a homer...

But in my opinion, there is no trade in which Rondo goes bye bye that can make us better.  With the type of basketball this team plays, at the pace it wants to play it at, Rondo fits it perfectly and unless we get someone like Chris Paul or Deron Williams in return, there's no way we should do it.

[jambr380]

When it comes down to it, the big three still run the show here. I love Rondo, but don't think he would have been the same guy in the playoffs if KG was here- and that would have been a good thing. I definitely like the idea of Hawes and a high draft pick for Rondo...and am even a fan of all the Amare rumors.

I guess I have always been a sucker for exciting 'change'- and a boring offseason is no fun, but if we can't get something amazing for Rondo (and Ray), then being boring is just fine with me...

[BballTim]

I never think its nuts to explore what kind of value you can get for players, and see if you can improve the team for both the short and long term.  I have a feeling there is not a deal out there that makes sense to give up Rondo (or Ray for that matter), but I don't think its nuts to see what is out there.

Agreed. You never know when you're going to find a GM as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here.

I wish that person was George Shinn.

  Most people wish we could trade Rondo for Chris Paul. We should also call about LeBron or Wade for Rondo. Seriously, though, I'd rather Ainge be "as hopelessly in love with Rondo as some of the posters here" than people who are pushing to ship him out of town on the next bus in case he wants decent money for his next contract.

There are always extremes.  Personally, I think it is just as nuts to not listen to explore options at all, as it is to be dead set on sending Rondo out of town for 60 cents on the dollar. 

  But most of the options that are discussed are just bad for the team. It doesn't always matter if it's 60 cents on the dollar, a dollar on a dollar or a buck and a quarter on the dollar. People are talking about shipping him out in deals for prospects and draft picks leaving a gaping hole in our backcourt. Some of the "Ray and Rondo" deals leave 2 holes in our backcourt. I'm all for looking into Rondo for Chris Paul, but not for players like Gay and Hawes and draft picks, which strengthen our bench and weaken our team.

See, I think a trade where we got two young stars, or a young star (like Hawes or Gay) and a high lottery pick could strengthen our team a great deal.  If you are just losing Rondo, but adding Hawes (who really solidifies our front line) and a lottery pick to give us a true 6th man like Harden, then the C's would be a free agent PG away from being much improved in my opinion, and it would also give the C's a much brighter future to have two blue chip players to build around, instead of just 1.

Now, I understand if you don't agree with it, but I have to say that to think its nuts is at best an overstatement, and at worst, blatent homerism.

  I didn't start this thread and I didn't call your idea nuts. But Hawes doesn't seem to be a great rebounder or defender. There's no guarantee that any draft pick will be ready to play a key role in a deep playoff run as a rookie. And, call me a homer, but I don't think that you just go out and sign a player of Rondo's caliber as a free agent. If you get a top FA pg I doubt he'll be as good as Rondo was last year, let alone what he'll be like next year. You'd probably have to give him the full MLE so you'd have to sign some min guy to back up Pierce unless you're sure Walker or a draft pick would do the trick. We could be better but we could just as easily be worse.

[KungPoweChicken]

Honestly, after the way they handled the KG injury, and how they are now talking about trading Ray and Rondo, the C's are smacking all their fans in the face.

[vagrantwade]

He won't be traded, so no point worrying about it.

[Who]

It's not nuts -- But I am surprised how many proposals and discussions are taking place, and I'm shocked at how little talent is coming back in some of them.

Side Note -- I also think Rondo is a fairly bad trade asset because I don't think he has a proper trade value in the market. A player like him who effects the game in such a large way, without being a great scorer and without being a big man, those guys are regularly undervalued. I think he has much more value as a player for the Celtics than he does in the trade market.

[nickagneta]

  We won one title, it's pretty much time to rebuild.

So rebuilding is trading away our best young player?

  More like trading away our best young player will lead to a rebuild. People read a bunch of nonsense about how easy it is to shut down the team by not guarding Rondo, or how he's a terrible defender or wildly inconsistent and figure that he's easily replaceable.

You bring up a good point BBall. There is a lot of nonsense flying around about Rondo's game. I even read a comment that called Rondo "offensively challenged". As a third or fourth option on this team, a team that played a total of 96 games this year, Rondo scored 15 or more points in 36 games, 20 or more points in 18 games, and 25 or more points in 8 games and over 30 points twice.

And that's from a pass first, oriented PG that was either the third or fourth scoring option on this team. He is NOT "offensively challenged". This kid can and will score a bunch of points in this league before his career is over. He is not, at this time, a very good outside shooter or free throw shooter. But he can score and at times can take over a game with his defense creating transition offense and his ability to break guys down off the dribble and blow by them like they were standing still.

And as bad as some think he played defense, coaches around the league voted him as the second best defensive PG in the league this year. I don't think he played great defense this year but I do know that after KG went down he was trying to concentrate a ton on making up some of what was loss on the offensive end and that had to drain some of his defensive effort.

He has all the tools to be a truly great and exceptional defender but he is young and will need to mature into that as his consistent effort and focus just isn't what it should be. But he is just 23. But in the mean time people who coached players that played against him and had to game plan for him think he is one of the best defensive PGs in the league. I'll take their word for it.

I will always give a bit of respect to the All NBA teams because they are voted on by coaches, unlike most of the other NBA awards that are voted on by sportswriters that have obvious biases and agendas in casting votes.

[Big Ticket]

Yes.

[Michael Anthony]

It's not nuts -- But I am surprised how many proposals and discussions are taking place, and I'm shocked at how little talent is coming back in some of them.

Side Note -- I also think Rondo is a fairly bad trade asset because I don't think he has a proper trade value in the market. A player like him who effects the game in such a large way, without being a great scorer and without being a big man, those guys are regularly undervalued. I think he has much more value as a player for the Celtics than he does in the trade market.

Really interesting take on undervalued smalls, do you have anyone else in mind?

The one thing that may have pushed his value up to proper levels was his tripple-double playoff performance. Or Chris Wallace.

Additionally, Tyreke Evans has a number or similarities to Rondo (college profile-wise) - can't shoot outside, very fast, good rebounder, lots of steals, interesting size for the position... If you move Rondo for Thompson and Evans, and pickup one of the many solid veterans to bridge the 1-2 year gap at point, we might be better off.