Rumor: Rondo/O'Neal for Gasol

[Chris]

Later in the playoffs the last few years, defenses have exploited Rondo, making the C's essentially 4 on 5 offensively for large stretches, and it caused a lot of problems.  It would be even worse with Bradley.

Bradley's shooting is clearly improving, so I don't know how much worse it would be than with Rondo.  In addition, the Celtics with Gasol wouldn't rely so heavily on the PG spot to run the offense so replacing Bradley at the end up games with Dooling or even playing with Ray, Pierce and Pietrus at the end would be possible.

The problem with Rondo isn't that he can't shoot.  It's that he can't shoot AND he has to be on the floor.

Mike

I think you are underestimating how much weaknesses are exploited in the later rounds of the playoffs.  It would put the C's at a dramatic disadvantage.

I think Bradley can be an asset in the playoffs, but only if he is used in the right way to maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. 

With that said, I am by no means making an argument against trading Rondo for Gasol.  That deal is a slam dunk IMO.  I am just saying that they would need to follow it up with a smaller move for a quality PG who is more solid with the ball in his hands on the offensive side. 

Some guys I would target would be Ridnour or Felton.  Or, I would see if I could swing a 3-way deal that essentially trades Ray for Nash. 

[Ticketz]

I would much rather try trading Rondo for Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, Dwill, or Dwight honestly..

[Chris]

I would much rather try trading Rondo for Al Jefferson, Brook Lopez, Dwill, or Dwight honestly..

Gasol is MUCH better and more valuable than Jefferson and Lopez (although Lopez has upside, but he is also a free agent after this season), you need to throw in a lot more than Rondo to get Dwight, and I don't think Williams will be available unless Dwight is traded to the Lakers (in which case I would love Williams as well).

[gpap]

Honestly, I'll admit I've gone back and forth on this. But at the end of the day, I WOULD definitely pull the trigger on this deal.

Granted, losing a poing guard like Rondo weakens us in the back court. BUT, bigs are like pitchers in baseball, you can never have enough.

I think the role of a point guard is sometimes over exaggerated and not nearly as important as having enough effective bigs on your team. That said, yes I would make this move.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

You won't go anywhere in this league without a penetrating / passing PG..his D could improve....but he already HAS that skill....maybe just dogging D a little, or using too much energy trying to get this team of old dogs going...! Bradley is a good bench backup pg.....

[WeMadeIt17]

Tough one for me.. don't really like gasol but fills a need that is stopping us from contending.. post scoring and rebounding.. i just don't know though.. just was looking at what laker fans were saying on realgm and someone had a twitter account saying if the lakers sign sheed then its a done deal.. so we shall see

[birdbrady]

You won't go anywhere in this league without a penetrating / passing PG..his D could improve....but he already HAS that skill....maybe just dogging D a little, or using too much energy trying to get this team of old dogs going...! Bradley is a good bench backup pg.....

Uhh the Lakers freaking repeated with Derek Fisher's corpse.

I know this.  You won't go ANYWHERE without rebounding.  Gasol solves that (hopefully)

[revcummings]

To be honest I think the celtics in some ways run better when Paul is playing the point forward position. I love Rondo and I hate to see him go, however, he is a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. With the type of team we have and the way we play Pau would be a great fit and PP running the O would work very well.

Also, with the way Bradley has been playing D, I'd say he is almost as good as Rondo is on D right now! So, it wouldn't hurt us much there.
 

[PosImpos]

You won't go anywhere in this league without a penetrating / passing PG..his D could improve....but he already HAS that skill....maybe just dogging D a little, or using too much energy trying to get this team of old dogs going...! Bradley is a good bench backup pg.....

Uhh the Lakers freaking repeated with Derek Fisher's corpse.

I know this.  You won't go ANYWHERE without rebounding.  Gasol solves that (hopefully)

Yeah, even in this point-guard heavy league, having dominant bigs is much more important to winning in the playoffs (where everything boils down to half-court sets) than having "penetrating point guards."

[the_Bird]

If we had ANY rebounding in 2010, we'd have another title....

[European NBA fan]

Horrible trade, makes absolutely no sense rebuilding wise...You get younger when you rebuild, not older...

....   well, it's not a rebuilding trade.

Pau's about the same age and has been in the league about the same number of years as KG was, back five years ago when we did that trade.  Could argue that KG had more miles on him, since he played so many minutes.  Making this trade would be about squeezing out the last couple years of Pierce, and probably re-signing Ray and KG this offseason (if you aren't trying to maximize cap space, you can keep their Bird rights).  
 

My concerns about Pau Gasol:
Pau is 31 now and his  points and shooting percentage have taken a hit this season. It could be Mike Brown issues. I guess that it's a combination of Pau moving away from the basket as he gets older, and being asked to do it to stretch the floor for Bynum.  

I know he's only a year older than KG was when he came here, but at that age, the decline can come rapidly. Gasol has a little less minutes per game over his career (and he probably never plays with the same level of intensity ). But he has played more playoff games than KG had at the same age, and has played a lot more internationally in the summers (a regular with the national squad since 2001, playing at the Olympics, FIBA World Championships and Eurobasket). Pau seems a little more injury prone than KG was at the same age.

Pros:
It would immediately solve our biggest problems (rebounding, inside scoring, consistency inside).
 
We would, however, get a new set of problems:
- point guard - and no, Pierce is not the solution, he disappears against the best small forward defenders.
- playbook. We would need to throw most of it out and only play simple. That would be refreshing but would probably also give problems for Ray Allen. And who will be calling the plays?
- team chemistry. I'm not sure how KG would take the killing of ubuntu once and for all.
- flexibility going forward. Gasol will probably be in the Pierce category for tradeability. Not that many teams would want his big contract. Rondo is a better contract in that way.
 


It would be exciting to get Pau Gasol, but I'm not totally sold.

You won't go anywhere in this league without a penetrating / passing PG..his D could improve....but he already HAS that skill....maybe just dogging D a little, or using too much energy trying to get this team of old dogs going...! Bradley is a good bench backup pg.....

Uhh the Lakers freaking repeated with Derek Fisher's corpse.

I know this.  You won't go ANYWHERE without rebounding.  Gasol solves that (hopefully)

Yeah, even in this point-guard heavy league, having dominant bigs is much more important to winning in the playoffs (where everything boils down to half-court sets) than having "penetrating point guards."

The Lakers played the triangle. Now the pg position is their biggest weakness that keeps them from being a top contender. 

[birdbrady]

My concerns about Pau Gasol:
Pau is 31 now and his  points and shooting percentage have taken a hit this season. It could be Mike Brown issues. I guess that it's a combination of Pau moving away from the basket as he gets older, and being asked to do it to stretch the floor for Bynum.  

I know he's only a year older than KG was when he came here, but at that age, the decline can come rapidly. Gasol has a little less minutes per game over his career (and he probably never plays with the same level of intensity ). But he has played more playoff games than KG had at the same age, and has played a lot more internationally in the summers (a regular with the national squad since 2001, playing at the Olympics, FIBA World Championships and Eurobasket). Pau seems a little more injury prone than KG was at the same age.

Yea but you're banking on a Gasol knee injury similar to KGs.  Sorry, I mean, you don't look into the crystal ball like that.  Gasol has been very durable throughout his career.  KG, btw, was playing 40 MPG (or close to it) and 82 games a year (except when they shut him down the end of the year in 07 to tank for Oden and Durant) and CARRYING miserable Wolves teams.  He also played at a far higher motor than Gasol ever has.  Gasol, I think, while he will decline - will age well.  Barring a KG@Utah injury, he will still be very good.  Heck, KG was still a 20+ PER guy before that injury, and we would have won the title in 2010 had we had that pre-Utah-injury-in 09 KG, even without Perk for Game 7, let alone the 2008 KG.

Pros:
It would immediately solve our biggest problems (rebounding, inside scoring, consistency inside).
 
We would, however, get a new set of problems:
- point guard - and no, Pierce is not the solution, he disappears against the best small forward defenders.
- playbook. We would need to throw most of it out and only play simple. That would be refreshing but would probably also give problems for Ray Allen. And who will be calling the plays?
- team chemistry. I'm not sure how KG would take the killing of ubuntu once and for all.
- flexibility going forward. Gasol will probably be in the Pierce category for tradeability. Not that many teams would want his big contract. Rondo is a better contract in that way.
 


It would be exciting to get Pau Gasol, but I'm not totally sold.

See here's my simple way of looking at it:

1.) It makes us better now.
2.) If Dwight and Deron make it to free agency, he's a GREAT sell.
3.) It very well could be better for the rebuilding than Rondo.

Points 1 and 2 are self-explanatory so I won't go over them.  However, ask yourself this.  If we lose out on Dwight and Deron, which we all know is likely - Pau is good to have for a rebuild.  Why? Well it seems like there are plenty of young teams (Minny, Houston) who have assets are always calling LA asking for Pau.  Funny, I don't know of any teams that are constantly banging down our down for Rondo.  Seems like we are always trying to force him down some other team's throat.  Every team in the league has a PG, so trading Rondo will be much harder than trading Pau.  Even Pau at 31 (32 this summer.)

Now the question is, does LA do this? Like I posted in another thread: it seems like they are offering both  Pau and Bynum for Dwight now.

[kozlodoev]

You won't go anywhere in this league without a penetrating / passing PG..

Just tell that to the Lakers.

[Change]

Get older, brilliant idea.

[European NBA fan]

Yea but you're banking on a Gasol knee injury similar to KGs.  Sorry, I mean, you don't look into the crystal ball like that.  Gasol has been very durable throughout his career.  

No, I'm not. I'm saying that he has had foot injuries in the past, and that is not a good sign for big men. I'm not saying that he is Yao Ming, but you need to consider his health. And though he is not injury prone, he has had his issues. The Lakers should have the same considerations about Rondo.

See here's my simple way of looking at it:

1.) It makes us better now.
2.) If Dwight and Deron make it to free agency, he's a GREAT sell.
3.) It very well could be better for the rebuilding than Rondo.

Points 1 and 2 are self-explanatory so I won't go over them.  However, ask yourself this.  If we lose out on Dwight and Deron, which we all know is likely - Pau is good to have for a rebuild.  Why? Well it seems like there are plenty of young teams (Minny, Houston) who have assets are always calling LA asking for Pau.  Funny, I don't know of any teams that are constantly banging down our down for Rondo.  Seems like we are always trying to force him down some other team's throat.  Every team in the league has a PG, so trading Rondo will be much harder than trading Pau.  Even Pau at 31 (32 this summer.)

Now the question is, does LA do this? Like I posted in another thread: it seems like they are offering both  Pau and Bynum for Dwight now.

Just guessing, but I'm pretty sure that Danny Ainge had several calls about Rondo. A Gasol trade is probably the only one, he would consider at the moment.

I forgot one thing: Pau has a 15 percent trade kicker, so he gets nearly 3M $/season more with us, which makes building around him a little bit more difficult.