In reading the forums here (which are great), the opinions on Rondo range broadly. I can undertand how Celtics fans love Rondo. He hustles, he has big time focus/intensity, and he produces. He is flawed as a player though and these flaws seem to be overlooked more by Celtics fans that those on the outside (at least that is my opinion). But overall, I get the love for Rondo.
What I don't get the lack of love for Deron Williams. I see the "he is a Cancer" statement a lot. Now I have never been in the locker room but based on what I see (on the court) and hear (statements in paper, interviews, etc.) I do not see a cancer. A skin rash maybe but not a cancer.
Williams is a premier player in this league IMO. I believe that if we could get him for say roughly Rondo and the Clippers pick (I know it would take more than that to balance salary/talent), that the move would vault us to the top tier instantly. Williams can do it all, pass, shoot, defend, pick and roll; what more could you possibly want in a player?
I believe the Cancer fears are based on him tangling with Sloan. That is definitely a red flag but I have never seen anything on the court that would reflect an attitude issue. He plays hard, stays focused, and plays the game the way I like to see it played (as does Rondo).
So is "Rondo not good enough for me"? Rondo is fine, I just think Williams is much better.
A Hall of Fame coach essentially quit because of Deron Williams, virtually out of the blue, from a job he'd held for 20 years. Do we know exactly what happened? No, of course not. But does Sloan's sudden exit raise all kinds of red flags? Absolutely. Rondo may have his hard-headed moments, but he hasn't caused Doc to quit. Williams may be more talented (okay, he is) but he has a huge red flag.
I agree with this completely, as I have huge respect for Sloan, but I have to at least ponder the thought that Sloan could have handled him perfectly well. The guy's a HOF coach, after all, and has surely butted heads with players before.
I get a feeling, though, that the whole debacle in Utah might really underscore the problem the league/owners have with the current superstar player powerstructure in the NBA. The question is whether ownership still had Sloan's back, and I'm inclined to think they didn't. And a coach without backing from higher-ups should properly quit.
So it might be less Sloan/Williams and more about cow-towing to overly pampered and entitled superstars.
On the court, though, Williams is a lot more steady/consistent than Rondo, and that is an important characteristic to consider.
And Doc is perhaps the best coach in the league at showing and receiving respect from players, so if the on-court stuff is okay, I think Doc can handle the locker room BS.
But the upgrade from Rondo to another PG is only so much, IMO, so I wouldn't stack many other assets in a trade, so perhaps the best thing is to just roll with it and worry about other things. Crap, we're still talking about shoring up the middle AGAIN this year...