For those who want to trade Rondo think about this first

[Quetzalcoatl]

I am pro-tank and pro-keep Rondo.  I don't think he will be physically in shape enough to get wins in the beginning of the season and I think the East will be tougher than it was last year.  I mean, we barely made the playoffs with KG and Pierce playing over .500 ball after the all star break.  We will however want him when we get a good player in the draft, as I think we're basically guaranteed a top 8 pick.  That player + Jeff Green + Rondo are a great nucleus, then we have Bradley / Olynyk / Sullinger / 5 first rounders / whoever we draft from the Nets pick in the late teens / big expiring contracts to use to trade for another superstar.   Getting a team like that to gel is hard, but I think Rondo is the perfect guy for the job.

We could see something like

Rondo
Bradley
Green
Olynyk
Willie Cauley Stein

then add a superstar via trade to either the 2 or the 4 spots.  And that is only a year away and assumes we get the 7th pick or so.

[celts34pats55]

Two big issues with Tanking the season.

1. Loosing is contagious, even if you get the number 1 or 2, the stigma of losing can last awhile.

2. If the team is playing well (not saying championship level), the value of the pieces that Danny has collected go up as they must be performing, so say you get rid of Rondo and make Pressy the PG, and start Melo at center as some folks want to in order to tank, Pressy passes to Melo and he can't make the basket or misses the toss ups, the value of Pressy doesn't go up and the Melo stays low. So yeah you get Wiggins and nobody to build around him with.

3. As a fan, I want to see a team that is busting their hump every night and showing growth, I don't want to watch a team that gets blown out every night and is out of it by the second quarter.

I understand points 1 and 3, but point 2 doesn't make sense to me. Who cares if Melo and Pressy suck? We have Wiggins. Would you start Pressey+Melo if it meant you'd have a a 60% shot of either Wiggins, Parker or Randle, and an 85% shot at a top 5 pick?
Tough to turn down, not to mention the other assets you'd have after moving Rondo and Green that you could use to put players around Wiggins with.

See, this is my biggest question...what are you getting for Rondo.

I'm open to trading Rondo only IF you get really nice pieces for him. I was open to trading him before the draft to Detroit for their pick AND Drummond or Monroe. Then with their pick taking Trey Burke. With that you'd have a significantly worse team next year. But, also a point guard who I truly believe in, and getting two very good pieces for Rondo. That's really the only way I trade Rondo. You need to get two lottery level talents for him.

[celts34pats55]

So, I'm sick and tired of ppl still saying we should trade Rondo and tank. And I have one thing for you to think over if you truly think we should.

In a re-draft of the 2006 NBA Draft, Rondo would be the #1 pick.

The only guy you can make an argument for over him is LaMarcus Aldridge.
The way I see it in a re-draft it would go:
Rondo (21st in real life)
Aldridge (2)
Paul Millsap (47...wow what a steal)
Rudy Gay (8th)

Yes, this year's draft is gonna be good. But even if you trade him and say get a top 5 pick, you're not guaranteed to get a player definitely as good as Rondo. I'm all for hoping we stink this year to get a top pick, but trading Rondo is not the answer.

The notion that LaMarcus Aldridge, a skilled, top-tier big man is less valuable than Rondo right now only shows fundamental lack of understanding of NBA player value.

He did actually say that you could make an argument for Aldridge over Rondo.  It's definitely debatable, though. 

Would you agree that he's almost certainly top two in his draft class, arguably number 1?

Of course, CeltsPats is right that it's nowhere near a guarantee that if you trade him now that you will get a player in the upcoming draft who ever reaches anything near Rondo's top level.

Thanks...the last point is my biggest worry.
I mean we've seen how the ping pongs have hated us before. So, what if we get the 7th pick and take Glenn Robinson III, who is a poor man's Jeff Green....trust me, I watched almost all of Michigan's games last year....yeah yeah yeah he was playing out of position, but the guy will NOT be anywhere near the player Rondo is.

[chambers]

What do tank advocates say in response to when people point out how far Carmelo, Bosh and LeBron have brought their respective drafters?

Bad organizations(or their bad management at the time) are always going to have a hard time building a successful contender. You need more thwn one player to win a ship.  You need someone like Rondo or a combo of excellent players who are led by a franchise guy.
Bosh and Lebron never got a fair shot in Toronto and Cleveland.
Bosh is arguably not a franchise guy.  Hes slightly above or even with Aldridge..ie All star but not quite good enough to carry a team to a ship'. Lebron did carry a pretty horrid Cavs team to the finals though. All the teams that made the finals in the past 25 years and beyond in the NBA finals drafted their own star. Only exception is Detroit in 04'. How do you argue against that?
Kobe would never win in LA without Gasol and Shaq would never win without Kobe.
You need a drafted franchise guy but also need to put the right guys around him.