when your window closes u trade 35 yr olds not 25 yr olds

[goCeltics]

i not saying anyone is untouchable but if ur trading away a 35 year rather than a 25 yr old, u more likely to be selling high, ppl pauls decline is here it is visible stat wise and watching him play.

[goCeltics]

can't believe all the trade rondo threads

anyway there is no doubt that mr ainge is the most stubborn headed gm in the league, and least likely to care about fan sentiment.

understand ppl when u trade for/or away someone your trading future production not past production.

before u let me u can't get anything of value for paul or allen, i beg to differ, the nba is wide open this year and many team may wish to give up youth + picks to put them over the top.   

Why would you want a GM that listened to the fans? If that was the case then Rondo would have been traded ten times this season, Garnett would be traded for a worse contract, Ray Allen would be traded and Pierce would be amnestied. Oh and we would have cut Bradley before the season began too.

i glad we have danny gm.

[PosImpos]

When your window closes you make whatever moves are best for the future of the team.  Whatever you have to do to get you close to that window being open again, you do it.

That's the only criteria.

[OttawaCeltic]

fans are too stuck in the big-3 era....allstar PG who average 14/10/5 dont grow on trees...hes not a perfect player by all means..

Error. False Statistics.
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3026/rajon-rondo

Thats 13/10/5 when rounding, though its more realistic for not rounding up. So he's really 13/9/4. A few number differences count in any way in basketball.

*cough* TRADE RONDO! TRADE RONDO! PPL ARE USING THE EXCUSE OF CALLING OTHERS BANDWAGON FANS THOUGH SOME OF US SIGHTFUL FANS ARE LEGIT DECADE+ FANS!!!! TRADE RONDO! *cough*

Sorry, I got a turrible cough though it speaks the truth.

[CelticsFanNC]

  Rondo isn't the ideal fit for this team right now.  

  Rondo needs elite athletes with speed and quickness to reach his full potential.  I wouldn't be surprised if he might like a new address.

  The team he is playing with now cannot get out into the open court because it doesn't rebound well, doesn't get to lose balls like it did a few years ago and doesn't get as many stops or turnovers as it did a few years ago.

  Use logic and remove names and sentimentality.  What makes more sense?

 Trading away a 25 year old All-Star PG to get a guy who fits better with a group of over the hill former superstars.

  -or-

 Keep the 25 year old All-Star PG and get players who can get into the open court and get easy baskets due to a highly skilled in the open court PG?

 People need to let go of the Big Three era.  It is over.  The window officially shut when they were eliminated last season.  This team needs to concentrate it's efforts on the future not the past.

  I'm not against trading Rondo or anyone else but trading your only young All-Star level player to find someone who fits in better with the "over the hill gang" makes no sense.  It's a band aide on a bullet hole.  It makes you less appealing to prospective free agents unless you get another All-Star level player in return.  It is totally illogical which is usually the case when you allow sentimentality to factor into your decisions.

[Celtics4ever]

I'd say in retrospect it closed in game 7 the fourth quarter of 2009 NBA finals looking back.   We were not a top team last year.

[PosImpos]

I'd say in retrospect it closed in game 7 the fourth quarter of 2009 NBA finals looking back.   We were not a top team last year.

you mean the 2010 finals?


i'd say the C's were a top team for the first third of the season last year when Shaq and the Big 4 were healthy.  the team looked scary good at that point and their record was top of the league.

[Celtics4ever]

Yep 09-10 finals.  The fourth quarter was the end.

[PosImpos]

Yep 09-10 finals.  The fourth quarter was the end.

again, I think for the first few months of last season when Shaq was playing with the Big 4, we were a very scary team.  that was perhaps the best starting lineup we've ever had with this core group.  unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last.  shaq was just too old.

imagine what we could have done to this league if shaq had come here a couple years sooner instead of wasting his time on the Suns and the Cavs.

[slamtheking]

Yep 09-10 finals.  The fourth quarter was the end.

again, I think for the first few months of last season when Shaq was playing with the Big 4, we were a very scary team.  that was perhaps the best starting lineup we've ever had with this core group.  unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last.  shaq was just too old.

imagine what we could have done to this league if shaq had come here a couple years sooner instead of wasting his time on the Suns and the Cavs.

I'm not sure that would have made a difference.  he was pretty cooked playing for those teams.  we really exposed him when he played for Cle in the playoffs.

[LooseCannon]

I prefer the band aid trades to the stupid trades to get a young athletic crappy  player or draft picks that w won't do anything

Which Stepien brother are you?

[Scribbles]

allstar PG who average 14/10/5 dont grow on trees...hes not a perfect player by all means..

I've been watching an undraftedm Ivy league player light it up for 20+ the past week.  Rondo is the only 14/10/5 guard who struggles with 17 foot jumpers and foul shots.  Point guards are all over the place.  Look at the list of useful pg's there are.

Calderon, Collison, Conley, Curry, Evans, Harris, Holiday, Irving, Jack, Jennings, Lawson, Lin, Lowry, Miller, Nash, Parker, Paul, Ridnour, Rubio, Rose, Teague, Wall, Westbrook, Williams. That's 24 pg's and I'm not even counting guys who have struggled because of age/injury like Kidd, Billups, and Hinrich. 

Is Rondo above some of these players, yes!  Is he below/similar talent level to a lot of this list? Absolutely..  It's not that Rondo isn't talented. Its that he's inconsistent and has proved that maybe he's not the best fit for the team anymore.

I've said it years ago, Rondo is not a franchise player.  He's a solid player when he's assertive, but he has flaws that stand out.  It is what it is, but Rondo is far from untouchable.  He's not even the most valuable member of the team either.  If a trade can improve the team it must be done. 

[ManchesterCelticsFan]

Yep 09-10 finals.  The fourth quarter was the end.

again, I think for the first few months of last season when Shaq was playing with the Big 4, we were a very scary team.  that was perhaps the best starting lineup we've ever had with this core group.  unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last.  shaq was just too old.

imagine what we could have done to this league if shaq had come here a couple years sooner instead of wasting his time on the Suns and the Cavs.

I almost forgot how good the C's were with a Healthy Shaq + Starting lineup in November-December 2011. Imagine if the C's had a Healthy ShaQ and a healthy Quis. With a healthy Quis backing up Paul Pierce who was playing very well at the time (unlike this season so far), Ainge probably would not have traded Perkins for Jeff Green. My bet is that Ainge wouldn't have gave a crap about losing Perkins for nothing in Free Agency last summer in that scenario as PP would have some help gaurding LeBron who has help with a Wade + Bosh this time, unlike in Cleveland.  That 2010-2011 C's team was built for a legit chance at winning the Championship even against the Miami's and the Dallas's had they lucked into being healthy for the season.

[Jon]

It's not about age, it's about value. 

If Ainge can get a lot for one of the Big Three, great.  However, particularly with Ray and KG, he's likely only going to get offers of mediocre role players and late first round picks.  Here's the catch: we're likely going to have to take back mediocre role players whose salaries match KG (23 million) or Ray (10 million) and whose contracts extend beyond this summer. 

So that would do the following:

A) Take 2012 out of the picture as  FA year. 

B) Not improve us in the immediate future.

C) Not really help in the long term, as we'd likely have to let these guys go as free agents to free up cap room for 2013 or 2014. 

Now, with Rondo, it's different.  If we did the Nash trade, we'd potentially improve next year and free ourselves of Rondo's deal, giving ourselves financial flexibility long term and possibly short term gain now. 

Now, again, I'm not sold on it.  But we have to remember, that with the way the NBA salary cap works, trading any of the Big Three likely will NOT net us a core piece for the future.  Bad teams with young talent aren't going to want them and good teams will only benefit from acquiring them if they are not giving up core pieces in return. 

[xmuscularghandix]

It's all about value.

We don't have a 25 year old Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, or Ray Allen. We have a 25 year old Rajon Rondo, a player who is very inconsistent, has attitude problems, can't shoot free throws, and opposing teams sag so far off him on defense that it's making it harder for his teammates to score.

Oh, and because of his high assist totals other teams might actually be willing to give up something valuable for him.