Do we make the playoffs with Rondo's return?

[chambers]

So, few questions and would like everyone's thoughts...

1) Does Rondo start immediately or within the first 3 games back?

2) Does he cause a few more losses in the short term as the team adjusts or does his passing get us that many more better looks that we win a few more than we should?

3) If Crawford is traded to we lose a few more games because we miss his scoring and shooting? Or is Rondo going to score and create enough to make up for it?

4) How many minutes does Rondo get per game for the first 5-10 games? 10, 15, 25?

5)Personally I think he'll make J Green look much better by getting the ball to him much more. BUT, I'm worried we don't have the shooters needed around Rondo to finish those wonderful assists. If J Craw is traded and Lee is gone, we are going to have a harder time finding that three point shot aren't we?

Who shoots the threes? Green, Bradley, Sully, Olynyk and Brooks? Gulp.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Impossible to answer until we see Rondo actually playing.

[TwinTower14]

Impossible to answer until we see Rondo actually playing.

I don't think so and it won't be Rondo's fault.  The current roster is playing at it's skill level now.  I think we will see a small up  tick once Rondo knocks off the rust but it's not his fault the roster stinks.  I think the Knicks, Brooklyn and Toronto will all get in from the Atlantic.  I expect Cleveland to make a run too, Deng and Irving should be good enough to make a run at a playoff spot...

[SHAQATTACK]

So ....it's not going to be a automatic magic improvement .   Could still be 10 games or 20 or next season before he returns all his skills and conditioning to pre injury level.

By the time he begins to run at near full steam , learns the players in pressure game situations ,  the end of the season or final  run of games will be upon the C's..

Why win the final 10 games and screw up the draft pick .

Makes no sense.

[GreenWarrior]

while I don't expect rondo to be the rondo we're accustomed to right out the gates. I do think just by simply being a better smarter player than Crawford he automatically makes us better.

I also would not be surprised if rondo hasn't been ready for a while and he actually does come out playing at full speed.

[wdleehi]

How about "No, there still isn't enough talent around him."?

[PAOBoston]

Rondo is a nice player but he isn't Lebron James. He's not going to instantly transform this roster into a playoff team. This team still lacks talent.

Personally, I think it's gonna be a while before he's back to his normal self anyways. He's coming off an ACL injury. We saw how Rose looked when he came back from his. No reason to think that Rondo won't experience the same or similar things. Even if he does look surprisingly good, Ainge will probably be busy in the next few weeks transforming the roster.

[Celtics18]

I'm going with 22 wins over the course of the rest of the season for a total of 35.  I doubt that will be good enough for the playoffs. 

[Endless Paradise]

I don't think so.  Some might look at a team like last year's Wizards and how they were transformed into a ~.500 team when Wall returned after going 5-28 without him.  The difference is that team was built around Wall; this year's Celtics weren't deliberately constructed around Rondo.  There are a ton of ill-fitting parts that just don't work together and as good as Rondo is, I don't see him being able to change that simple fact.

[LooseCannon]

I don't think so.  Some might look at a team like last year's Wizards and how they were transformed into a ~.500 team when Wall returned after going 5-28 without him.  The difference is that team was built around Wall; this year's Celtics weren't deliberately constructed around Rondo.  There are a ton of ill-fitting parts that just don't work together and as good as Rondo is, I don't see him being able to change that simple fact.

There are parts like Bradley and Green who probably fit better next to Rondo than someone like Crawford.

I wouldn't be shocked if Ainge is waiting to evaluate how Rondo plays and if he likes what he sees then he will pull the trigger on a trade, perhaps being willing to give up more than the Clippers pick for Asik.

[manl_lui]

idk, I agree with the people who bought up Wall. Also, at this point with our record - 12 wins below .500 mark. I'm not sure if Rondo is good enough to bring us out of that mess. He might help get us some wins, maybe to the point that gets us OUT of the a top 5 pick and towards the end of the lottery

so it depends if we should actually have him back or not

one can also argue that Rondo needs to shake some rust off, so he might not contribute as much as we think he would. That and limited minutes, theres only so much he can do to help

[Celtics17]

Obviously the answer depends on Rondo's health and if the team is still together. If he can play at %85 of where he was by 20 games in and if the team is still together then yes we make the playoffs.

Coming off an ACL tear though there is no way of saying what Rondo will be like? Personally while I may not think Rondo instantly turns this team into a playoff team I do think a healthy Rondo like we have seen before the ACL injury definitely would turn this team into a playoff team He is that good.

[Donoghus]

Celtics should be better, I just don't know by how much.

Given the nature of the East & the remaining schedule, I'm inclined to say that the Celtics do or end up just on the cusp of it.