This would be a brilliant move by the GM of the Sacramento Kings and it also makes sense as to "why" they would put such an aggressive package together for Rondo.
Think about it.
1. Sacramento has had lottery pick after lottery pick after lottery pick the last 5-7 years. Where are they headed? The lottery...
2. Isaiah Thomas is a nice little point guard - I actually like him a lot. But he's probably nto a guy who will "lead you to the promised land".
3. Ben Mclemore could turn out well but you don't know. Meanwhile, good veteran off guards are generally available each year.
4. Two first round picks? Not a major issue - because they think with Rondo in hand those won't be as close to the lottery as people think.
5. Thompson and Thornton - decent role players - can be replaced.
So now we look at Sacramento after the trade:
Cousins / Aaron Gray
Carl Landry / Derrick Williams
Rudy Gay / Gerald Wallace
Gerald Wallace (For now)/ Quincy Acy
Rondo / Ray McCallum
Cousins, Gay and Rondo form an incredibly talented trio at very key positions to move forward with.
From there, the moves to be a legit title contender are very simple:
1. Draft a good young PF or off guard with your draft pick this year
2. Veteran Free agent signing at whatever position you did not draft in #1.
3. Mid level and bi annual for veteran pieces.
That is a much, much better path forward than what they are currently looking at.
For the Celtics, the key question in this equation to me is, how good will Ben Mclemore be? And that is a matter of professional due diligence on the kid's skill as well as your gut feeling about his drive, heart and potential ceiling as an NBA player. If you feel that projects at an all star level this is a very hard deal to turn down.
Flip Bass, Lee and two first rounders, if you "had" to (since you just picked up two more from Sacramento) for Asik now.
What do we look like?
Asik / Faverani / Iverson
Sully / Olynyk
Green / Bogans for now...
Bradley / McLemore / Thornton
Crawford / Isaiah Thomas /
Still have 9 first round picks, if you only traded
Lots of cap
A lot of good young talent.
if McLemore pans out:
Asik
Sully
Green
Mclemore
Crawford