To me the time to make a veteran clearing move is when Rondo comes back because his passing has the chance to improve the value of a lot of our veterans. Trades are always about getting the best value you can for a given player.
I get your point, and I tend to agree for the most part. BUT....
People on Celticsblog don't seem to give enough consideration to the value in the losses that will pile up from simply moving a player or two.
Don't get me wrong, Danny won't get fleeced by anyone but at this stage I don't think our assets have a tonne of value anyway. Bass? Wallace? Humphries? Crawford?
ie: if we move Bass for a 2nd round pick and a young upside guy with 'bust' potential like...Thomas Robinson from Portland...the majority of posters here would think 'wow bad trade', but if we move the salary AND we lose an extra 4-5 games which will be crucial in shooting for the top of this draft, then that's an enormous win for the organization.
If he can move Bass, Humphries, Crawford and maybe Bradley- we'll be a bottom 4 team. Rondo won't be playing any kind of 2011 Rondo for a few months.
If people think that Ainge is going to put the value we get out of a Brandon Bass deal ahead of the value gained in securing a top 3 pick (as opposed to a top 10 pick) then I think they're greatly underestimating him.
These losses and younger player development aren't just about draft picks for stud rookies- these losses are potentially the difference between signing Carmelo Anthony (or insert NBA superstar here) and watching Rondo walk away in a season's time because we couldn't get him a contending supporting cast.
Not that Rondo is even 50% going to walk away (I have no idea), but there's so much more at stake here with these losses than people realize right now. Getting the 4th pick instead of the 9th pick could be the difference between getting a superstar via the draft, but it's probably the most important piece of any potential big trade. Do the Knicks pick up the phone if we offer a pick between 6- 10 for Carmelo? I dunno...
But do they pick up the phone for the 3rd or 4th pick? Much better chance right?
Better yet, do the Sonics pick up the phone if our 2007 pick is #9 instead of #5 and send Ray Allen our way?
My point being that the 'value' is in the eye of the beholder I suppose.