How comfortable are you building around Rajon Rondo?

[Celtics18]

His age worries me. 28 years old next season. Not a lot of time to put a Championship caliber team around him while he still in his prime.

I think that 5+ years ought to be enough time.

You want a 32-year-old Rondo slashing to the basket?

Yeah

[LarBrd33]

I think you could win a title with Rondo as your 3rd best player.  If we want to get two superstars and let Rondo play the Bosh role, I think it could work.  Unfortunately, I don't see two superstars available.

Back in the late 00s we had a superstar by the name of Kevin Garnett and he had two allstar teammates named Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.  A little Celtic history for you.  I miss those days.

Best case scenario, we find some way to land Nerlens Noel in this draft or sign Greg Oden... and the guy shocks everyone and completely lives up to impossible past expectations.  All the while, we tank the season and land the #1 pick and draft Wiggins... who completely lives up to expectations.  Then you'd have your #1 and #2 and in five short years a veteran Rondo would be able to ride them to a title.

Rondo's injury history might plague him though.  Dude has missed more games than Steph Curry.  He's definitely injury-prone.  The little guy isn't going to last well into his 30s.  He'll never be a shooter and when he loses his ability to penetrate with quickness he'll have a problem.

[BASS_THUMPER]

no

i dont think u can build around a player
and win titles

[rondoallaturca]

Rondo's injury history might plague him though.  Dude has missed more games than Steph Curry.  He's definitely injury-prone.  The little guy isn't going to last well into his 30s.  He'll never be a shooter and when he loses his ability to penetrate with quickness he'll have a problem.

That's what happens when you're 6'1/186 playing in the NBA.

[LilRip]

I define "building around" as being the centerpiece of the franchise and I just dont see that in him. I think his skillset, while unique, is also too flawed and I dont think he has the attitude or maturity to be a team leader. I've said this in another thread but Rondo doesn't strike me as that number 1 guy. I think he'd be great as 1A. He can be part of your core and someone to build with, but not someone to build around. Does that make sense? Lol

[Snakehead]

I define "building around" as being the centerpiece of the franchise and I just dont see that in him. I think his skillset, while unique, is also too flawed and I dont think he has the attitude or maturity to be a team leader. I've said this in another thread but Rondo doesn't strike me as that number 1 guy. I think he'd be great as 1A. He can be part of your core and someone to build with, but not someone to build around. Does that make sense? Lol

It makes sense and its true for any player.  That's what I take issue with as far as a single player being labeled a centerpiece.

There are a few players that are true superstars, and even they need help.  Rondo can absolutely be one of your three best players on a championship team.  So to me, building with Rondo, yes I would like that.

[BballTim]

I think you could win a title with Rondo as your 3rd best player.  If we want to get two superstars and let Rondo play the Bosh role, I think it could work.  Unfortunately, I don't see two superstars available.

  Considering that we got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as our best player it's safe to say we could win the title with him as our 3rd best player. Take Rondo from the 2012 playoffs and put two players *better* than that and you'd have a very dominant team, make one of those players a big guy and you'd have the best team of the 21st century.

  I don't know how much of the playoffs you got to see on the left coast the last couple of years. If you watched the Celts in the 2012 playoffs you saw Rondo score or assist about *60%* of the team's points when he was in the game. In the 2013 playoffs, despite adding a 20ppg (in the playoffs) scorer and going up against a much weaker defense the team was literally setting records for offensive futility.

  If the difference in the teams in the two years was due to the absence or presence of KG or PP you'd be touting what happened as proof of their impact and importance to the team. Since it's Rondo you respond to the situation by redoubling your efforts to trash him. One has to admire your tenacity.

[Atzar]

In the short term, I'm very comfortable building around him.  I believe he's a guy who can win a few games and put up stats.  He'll make some of our other players look better than they actually are.  I don't expect to field a contender around him - maybe not even a playoff team - but I think you can build assets with him as one of the big guns and then look to trade him in the last year of his contract.

It's not really about building a contender around him now.  Trying to contend now would be premature; we don't have enough high-level assets to bring in the talent that such a bid would require.  This is about amassing desirable assets to bring in the next wave a few years from now.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Looking thru this thread what I`m wondering is if  the building around a player idea is being constricted to the one particular formula for building around a very good scorer/shooter? As far as I can tell, whether or not the roster is consiously formulated around Rondo or not, his skill set is too good not to be a key part of a championship roster, never mind trading him would be adding a big obstacle to our championship ambitions as I don`t see him on anything but a contender.   

[D.o.s.]

I think you could win a title with Rondo as your 3rd best player.  If we want to get two superstars and let Rondo play the Bosh role, I think it could work.  Unfortunately, I don't see two superstars available.

  Considering that we got to game 7 of the finals with Rondo as our best player it's safe to say we could win the title with him as our 3rd best player. Take Rondo from the 2012 playoffs and put two players *better* than that and you'd have a very dominant team, make one of those players a big guy and you'd have the best team of the 21st century.

  I don't know how much of the playoffs you got to see on the left coast the last couple of years. If you watched the Celts in the 2012 playoffs you saw Rondo score or assist about *60%* of the team's points when he was in the game. In the 2013 playoffs, despite adding a 20ppg (in the playoffs) scorer and going up against a much weaker defense the team was literally setting records for offensive futility.

  If the difference in the teams in the two years was due to the absence or presence of KG or PP you'd be touting what happened as proof of their impact and importance to the team. Since it's Rondo you respond to the situation by redoubling your efforts to trash him. One has to admire your tenacity.

In the interest of fairness, the Heat were also missing Chris Bosh for the first five games of that series, and his return certainly showed what, exactly, he brought to the table.

I'll reiterate, though, that I would love to see a team built around Rondo.

[CapnDunks]

Very. Rondo isn't a 1st option scorer, but pairing him with one all star and one well above average starter at the 2+5 could create a top team.

I think some people undervalue rondo. As crazy at that seems. His flaws aren't hard to cover if he has the right pieces with him.

[guava_wrench]

I'm concerned that he will be a coach killer since we will be bringing in a less established coach.

[ssspence]

Completely uncomfortable. It virtually guarantees no championships in his era, unless the Cs draft or acquire a superstar scorer or big who becomes their cornerstone in the next couple of years.

What's worse, he'll pout his way outta town before the team gets better anyway. Seriously -- how many nights a season is Rondo going to play hard on a losing team? 25%... when Paul or Deron or LeBron is in town?

[BballTim]

Completely uncomfortable. It virtually guarantees no championships in his era, unless the Cs draft or acquire a superstar scorer or big who becomes their cornerstone in the next couple of years.

  Rondo's capable of playing like a superstar in the playoffs and leading his team to deep playoff runs. We've seen it in the past. You could say that some players are capable of better play, you could say some players are more consistent in dominating playoff games, and in both cases you'd be right. But we don't have players like LeBron or Durant on the team, and we don't have any realistic way to get one of them.

  So, while I'd agree winning a title around Rondo is something of a longshot, I'd say there's little question that it's the most likely way we'd get one during his era. Look at the 2010 team that went to game 7 of the finals. KG wasn't healthy from his knee injury and PP and RA were clearly starting to age past the point where they could carry a team offensively. While those players were all-stars, none of them were on any all-nba teams, none of them were mvp candidates. PP was our best scorer, and he was tied for 20th in the league in scoring in the playoffs. KG was our best rebounder, and he was also tied for 20th in the playoffs in rebounding.

  I think it's possible (although no small task) to surround Rondo with that level of talent over the next 4-5 years. Since you're so down on building around Rondo, I'd wonder whether you had a scenario in mind that you'd honestly say was clearly more likely to happen than that. No "we should just tank for a year and we'll end up with Wiggins" nonsense, something that you think is realistically likely to occur.

[ssspence]

Completely uncomfortable. It virtually guarantees no championships in his era, unless the Cs draft or acquire a superstar scorer or big who becomes their cornerstone in the next couple of years.

  Rondo's capable of playing like a superstar in the playoffs and leading his team to deep playoff runs. We've seen it in the past. You could say that some players are capable of better play, you could say some players are more consistent in dominating playoff games, and in both cases you'd be right. But we don't have players like LeBron or Durant on the team, and we don't have any realistic way to get one of them.

  So, while I'd agree winning a title around Rondo is something of a longshot, I'd say there's little question that it's the most likely way we'd get one during his era. Look at the 2010 team that went to game 7 of the finals. KG wasn't healthy from his knee injury and PP and RA were clearly starting to age past the point where they could carry a team offensively. While those players were all-stars, none of them were on any all-nba teams, none of them were mvp candidates. PP was our best scorer, and he was tied for 20th in the league in scoring in the playoffs. KG was our best rebounder, and he was also tied for 20th in the playoffs in rebounding.

  I think it's possible (although no small task) to surround Rondo with that level of talent over the next 4-5 years. Since you're so down on building around Rondo, I'd wonder whether you had a scenario in mind that you'd honestly say was clearly more likely to happen than that. No "we should just tank for a year and we'll end up with Wiggins" nonsense, something that you think is realistically likely to occur.

We've been through this before, Tim. Name the last team that won a title that was built around a PG. Now name the last team that won a title that was built around a PG who can't shoot FTs. Now name the last team that won a title that was built around a PG who can't shoot FTs or FGs outside 10 feet. Now name the last team that won a title that was built around a PG who can't shoot FTs or FGs outside 10 feet who is an anti-leader. Now name the last team that won a title that was built around a PG who can't shoot FTs or FGs outside 10 feet who is an anti-leader who takes nights off when he's bored or annoyed or feels slighted by something. I can keep going....