The greater point is that you need an elite scorer or an elite big man. Often you need both. There's really no examples of teams that won titles, because their PG got a lot of assists. It's about the bigs and the dudes who can put the ball in the bucket.
Rondo's a good talent. He can be the 2nd or 3rd best player on a contender. He doesn't make a lot of sense on a 26 win lotto squad that is a half decade away from relevance... which is why the media keeps writing about how it's the "worst kept secret in the NBA" that Rondo will be traded this season. My random guess is Indiana. I figure it has to be a team that is competitive already and could use an upgrade at PG.
It's a short list. There's teams like Memphis that would probably be content hanging onto Mike Conley. Denver would be fine hanging onto Ty Lawson. Lotto teams don't want Rondo for the same reason Boston will trade Rondo. At some point we'll probably just have to take what we can get.
Ah, yes, the media keeps repeating something Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons said because they want people to pay attention to their boring show.
That seems like staunch evidence that Rondo's getting traded.
What's it been, about three years now that you've been convinced a Rondo trade was right around the corner?
Did I ever think a Rondo trade was right around the corner?
I seem to remember bringing up the fact that we couldnt' land Chris Paul. It was reported that the Lakers turned us down in a Pau trade. It was reported the the Warriors turned us down in a Steph Curry trade (before Curry broke out... he was injured at the time). At no point was a Rondo trade "right around the corner", but some folks seemed to report that he was in discussions.
But yeah, it's not just Simmons/Rose who think ROndo is getting traded this year. There's been pretty constant speculation that Boston will trade him as soon as he proves he's healthy. FOr example... Marc Stein a couple weeks ago: Boston Celtics 'have to trade' Rajon Rondo, and 'everyone in basketball knows it' ...
If you wanna be mad at someone, don't be mad at me. Far bigger fish than me beating this drum. Do you feel like you're at all in denial? Seriously.
When Marc Stein says "everyone in basketball knows it", do you assume he's imagining things?
I honestly think he was just making things up, much like you are doing.
I'm not mad at anybody.
Marc Stein and Bill Simmons arent the only guys saying this stuff. Its pretty widespread, and just about every Celtics preview that looks at the team in-depth for the season speculates in some fashion about a Rondo trade.
That's not to say its imminent by any kind of means. Just that its a prevalent thought.
It's not happening. Most of these writers are brain-dead hacks who spit out the phrase "Rondo must be traded" the same way a parrot says "Polly wanna cracker." They heard it somewhere so they think their role is to repeat it.
To be fair, if they heard it somewhere, that's a source saying that Rondo should/will/might/may be traded.
Furthermore, those are the same brain-dead hacks that put Rondo on the MVP ballot, as you so fondly pointed out.
When I say they heard it somewhere, what I mean is they heard it from another sports writer, who made it up, and then they repeat it. They sure didn't hear it from Danny Ainge or anyone connected to the Celtics front office.
Marc Stein's quote was, "they have to trade Rajon Rondo. You know it, I know it, everyone in basketball knows it." This was written in his short season rankings blurb, and comes across much more as a guy trying to be cute and clever than someone who actually is basing this on any kind of insider knowledge.
Once it became clear that Rajon Rondo wasn't going to act like the pouty baby that everybody was projecting him to act like now that the rebuilding process has begun, the murmurs about Rondo being traded started to die down.
They've resurfaced a little bit lately thanks to Jalen and Bill's goofy act, but I doubt there's any more truth to it than there ever was.
I predict that Rondo stays. I'm guessing I have about as much insider knowledge as Bill Simmons, Jalen Rose, and Marc Stein; that is to say, none.
So you're certain that none of those guys heard anything about trading Rondo from anyone in the Celtics front office, despite the fact that you've admitted that you have no connection to the Celtics front office?
Well I believe that the cream cheese cures cancer, despite the fact that I have no ties to either the dairy industry or that medical field.
Despite what you might think, sports writers don't generally just pull things out of thin air to generate coverage. At least, the ones that don't work for Bleacher Report.
We have differing opinions about that, then. I do think that sports writers make things up out of thin air to generate coverage all the time. I also think that the sports following public often has a hard time making the distinction between an opinion piece by a sports writer and a piece that presents itself as real speculation based on insider knowledge. In this day of voluminous internet media, these guys are producing stuff all the time that is just their opinions on stuff.
That doesn't necessarily make them bad guys in my opinion (despite my snarky tone towards them earlier), but when a well-respected guy like Marc Stein writes a line about Rondo getting traded which when looked at in context is obviously an opinion piece, and the rest of the internet responds with "rumors from Marc Stein say that Rondo is getting traded," then these things can easily take on a life on their own.
Believe it or not, we amateur sports bloggers and posters are a part of the sports media, as well. We repeat the stuff written by the guys getting paid to write it, and others pick it up like its fact. The bottom line is that when it comes to NBA trade rumors, it definitely seems wisest to follow the old adage, "don't believe everything you read."
