Chris i think you care about Rondo more than anything. But Rondo is not Michael Jordan. He alone cannot help us get to the promise land. I don't care what he did in the past in the playoffs, without some more help, no way he can do it.
I'm looking fwd to somehow make Rondo + 2014-2015 draft work. But Danny has to step in. For Rondo to get his feet wet to prepare for next year imo is a little silly. So either he is coming back in hopes to get traded or the team is looking to win and get into the playoffs. Brad Stevens has not stopped pressing on the gas pedal and will do everything possible to win games.
But this all equals for us to possibly fail in the 2014 draft and get nowhere in the short term/long term
You talk like there are 2 options:
1) don't play rondo to get better lottery chances
2) play rondo to make playoffs.
That is wrong. There are not the only 2 options, so stop insisting on this false dichotomy every time someone responds to you.
Danny needs to maximize assets for the future and he needs to field a roster for this season. Out best current asset is Rondo, so he needs to maximize that asset. Ainge would be an idiot if he purged all assets for the number 1 pick, because no single player gets you a championship and the expected return would be very low for such a move.
GMs can't think as black and white as what you are putting forth. They need to consider expected return. As people point out, having the worst record doesn't guarantee the top pick, but it greatly increases the chances of a top pick. Rondo also has great value as an all star player and he is already on our roster. Danny is trying to maximize his expected return for a few years down the road. This means developing players on the roster (thus no PT for Bogans) and accumulating future assets.
If a GM chooses to use a singular approach to maximizing assets -- only going for the top pick, the expected return will be less -- like how the area of a 9 x 1 rectangle is less than the area of a 5 x 5 square, even though 9+1 = 5+5. Having a fire sale and disenfranchising players with actual value (unlike Bogans) would be stupid moves unless you have culture problems on the team that forces you to ship guys out. Desperation also doesn't help you get value.
It is also pointless to say "Rondo won't get us to the promised land". It takes a team to get you there. Pierce couldn't get us there. KG couldn't get Minny there. No one player gets anyone there. It take multiple parts to get there. Remember Lebron in Cleveland? Rondo is one of the more valuable parts in the league. To waste that because he's not Jordan is asinine. Durant isn't Jordan, but he is pretty valuable. Unless you are saying we shouldn't pursue any players except Jordan, skip the Jordan references. Comparing players with Jordan is an exercise for the media, not for people managing teams.