I'd rather have Rajon Rondo than Josh Smith going forward.
Here's my thinking -
Rondo is more likely to keep the Celtics in the 30-40 win range for the next few years. The Celtics will be largely dependent on attracting a marquis free agent or getting fantastically lucky in the draft in order to become a contender again. I think the chances of either of those things happening are not great. Instead, it's more likely we'd be a team along the lines of Philadelphia, Milwaukee, or Charlotte - perennially contending for a lower seed in the Eastern conference.
With Josh Smith as the "best player," the team is not going to be as good. This will translate to fewer wins and higher draft picks. However, as a complementary player to a potential high draft pick (a PG, wing, or, if we're incredibly lucky, a dominant center) or as a piece in a trade for a superstar, Josh probably has more value because he isn't a primary ball handler. We want somebody else to be able to come in and be that alpha dog (the way that Derrick Rose did with Chicago).
The bottom line is, I don't want to build around Rajon Rondo. I think he's limited, flawed, and inconsistent, and I don't see that changing. I'd rather see the Celtics try to reinvent themselves as an athletic, fast-break team in the short term -- good enough to be exciting, but bad enough not to win too often.
I'd rather have Josh Smith (and perhaps Jeff Green) to put alongside the next Celtics franchise player than try to build around Rondo the way the Nets tried to build around Jason Kidd.