no. nope. no way Jose.
Rondo's the main asset we have and the type of player we'd want to acquire while rebuilding.
Just because he is our best asset doesn't mean we are required to keep him. We didn't get back fair value for Pierce/KG either. We took two steps back to make a giant leap forward (eventually).
CP3 has never been to a finals. Nash hasn't either. Kidd never led his team to a championship. Neither has Payton nor Stockton nor Kevin Johnson.
Unless you are talking about 6'10" Magic Johnson, you don't build around a PG.
Contrary to what some believe on here, Rondo was always a complimentary piece throughout our championship window.
The question in the topic was "Do Celtics fans want Rondo traded?" . I stand by my answer. He's the type of player we want to have.
As for would I trade him if a great deal came along, sure, for the right deal. what we got for PP and KG is irrelevant and a poor comparison as well. They were 2 players well past their prime who we'd keep out of sentiment. Rondo is an all-star, top PG coming into his prime.
Throw in the fact there's a helluva a lot of players in ALL positions that haven't won a title either. Don't throw out PGs as the only type of player that can't win a title. I don't see a ring on DH's fingers even though he's the top Center in the game. How many rings does Durant have? I can throw out even more examples than you can of great non-PGs that never won a title.
I wasn't comparing any trades, just stating that Ainge clearly made this team worse with a goal in mind. Trading rondo, even at subpar value, would support that goal. Had he moved KG for Jordan and Pierce for a S&T, I would understand the rebuild. This is not a rebuild. This is a blow up. Rondo doesn't fit in a blow up.
And sure you can find players at any position that haven't won, but not more than PG. Those aforementioned PG's are amongst the best ever and have nothing to show for it. Shaq, Hakeem, KG, Duncan, Dirk, LeBron, Pippen, Jordan, Kobe are all all-time greats that have gotten the job done. That's the difference between a great PG and a great SG/SF/PF/C, hence why Magic is the only PG in the top 10, and maybe the only one in the top 20-25.
PG's don't deliver championships, regardless of how good they are. The same cannot be said about every other position.
On your list of 'all-time' greats, KG, Kobe and Pippen don't win without their teammates. Duncan doesn't get as many. for that matter, Pippen doesn't sniff a title without Jordan.
Rondo's going to need support to get a title. Especially in the current NBA with the likes of Bron and Durant in the league. Put 4 other very good players (where Rondo is still the best player) at the other positions with Rondo and let's see how he does. He may not win the title but I bet he gets pretty darn close if he doesn't.
my basic point is this: when building a title team you want players of Rondo's caliber or better. We have one already so keep him unless someone offers something that's just foolishly lopsided in the C's favor. As for moving him for spare parts in order to really tank, no thanks. We'd be hardpressed to get to the playoffs as it is and the team with the worst record has hardly ever won the lottery (once or twice possibly) . No need to sink to the absolute bottom.
So I guess Kevin Johnson, John Stockton, Gary Payton, and Steve Nash didn't have any good players on their team? (I'll give you Kidd, those Nets teams were awful but so was the entire EC)
This is my point. How are you going to put 4 very good players around Rondo? And I still believe that isn't enough, you need at least one (IMO 2) GREAT players. If you think you can draft those in the mid-late first round, it's not happening. You need a top pick in this draft, plain and simple.
We wouldn't even need to win the lottery to get a true franchise player.
no. nope. no way Jose.
Rondo's the main asset we have and the type of player we'd want to acquire while rebuilding.
Just because he is our best asset doesn't mean we are required to keep him. We didn't get back fair value for Pierce/KG either. We took two steps back to make a giant leap forward (eventually).
CP3 has never been to a finals. Nash hasn't either. Kidd never led his team to a championship. Neither has Payton nor Stockton nor Kevin Johnson.
Unless you are talking about 6'10" Magic Johnson, you don't build around a PG.
Contrary to what some believe on here, Rondo was always a complimentary piece throughout our championship window.
Your point is? Nothing you've said here means we need to trade Rondo. If anything, he'll be a solid third option on a championship contender.
He couldn't help a team with two HoF'ers win another championship (he had little to do with the '08 Banner), but he can LEAD a team to one? So long as we have him, we probably won't bring in a better player.
I would suggest you try and watch some Celts games from the last few years (starting with the Knicks series) if you think that PP and KG still play at a HOF level. You'll be very surprised by what you'll see.
You certainly haven't watched more games than me, I've seen all but one game of Rondo's career (missed April '08 game against the Hawks - forgot to set DVR). Sorry I didn't become a Rondo troll over that timespan though.
Pierce averaged like 18/7/6 after rondo went down. Those are HoF numbers. KG led the league in rebounding in the playoffs at 37 years old. Last year he had the best adjusted +/-.
These guys may not be the best at their positions anymore, but they are still [dang] good, and you will see soon enough when Brooklyn takes the court in October. Deron will probably extend their careers another year or two, as he can actually take the scoring burden off has-beens like themselves.
Rondo has long benefitted from playing with the big three. Now that they are all gone, teams can just give him fits, double him, foul him, do whatever. Worst that can happen is he bricks half his free throws or passes out to.... Avery Bradley?... Brandon Bass?.... Kelly Olynyk? Rondo is going to be one frustrated played before November is over. I cannot say the same about Deron, JJ, or Brook Lopez.