Sounds like we attempted to trade Rondo for Juilus Randle

[LarBrd33]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-power-rankings--warriors-still-shining-203840556.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Lakers and Celtics had mutual interest for a Rajon Rondo deal, but the Lakers weren?t willing to give up injured rookie Julius Randle, a source said.

... Well that settles that.  Rondo for Nash's expiring + Randle always seemed like the most logical deal to me.  Sounds like the Lakers weren't willing to give up their injured prospect.  I don't blame them.  They can just sign Rondo this summer.

Kudos to Ainge for trying to get something of value for Rondo.  Wish he had done it sooner when Rondo had more trade value.

[GreenWarrior]

I would have thrown in green, bass, maybe even a pick or 2 for one that included Randle.

[Onslaught]

I'd have a hard time trading with the Lakers. I'd have an even more difficult time seeing Rondo in those colors.

[mr. dee]

I'd rather pass on Randle even if he is available. There are guys in 2015 draft that might be better than him.

[Granath]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-power-rankings--warriors-still-shining-203840556.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Lakers and Celtics had mutual interest for a Rajon Rondo deal, but the Lakers weren?t willing to give up injured rookie Julius Randle, a source said.

... Well that settles that.  Rondo for Nash's expiring + Randle always seemed like the most logical deal to me.  Sounds like the Lakers weren't willing to give up their injured prospect.  I don't blame them.  They can just sign Rondo this summer.

Kudos to Ainge for trying to get something of value for Rondo.  Wish he had done it sooner when Rondo had more trade value.

Once Rondo went down with that ACL, he didn't have much trade value. His sub-par play last year left a lot of open questions about his ability. His expiring contract + public desire to test FA + horrid shooting+ disinterested defensive play + horrific 4th quarter play + wanting maximum money kept his value down this year. 

So the "sooner" in your statement was two years ago. Rondo's ACL injury was the domino that started all of this. Doc wanted out because he didn't want to coach a losing team. It forced the Pierce/KG trade because without Rondo we'd already seen that those guys didn't have enough in the tank to carry the team in the playoffs (you can reverse the Doc/KG trades since they happened almost simultaneously). In short, the window to trade Rondo and get max value was two years ago and had Danny done so the fans would have killed him because that was when Rondo was playing some great ball.

[Granath]

I'd rather pass on Randle even if he is available. There are guys in 2015 draft that might be better than him.

I'd pass on Randle because he's redundant. The Celtics already have two PFs in Sully and KO. Randle may be better than both but he may not be - there's no way to tell at this juncture. So bringing in yet another PF seems to be counterproductive because with 3 there's not even enough minutes to go around to showcase them for trades.

[Roy H.]

It's probably the smart move for the Lakers, but why commit to Kobe so heavily if you're not going to put a win-now team around him?  I'm sure he's thrilled.

[obnoxiousmime]

They must have learned from the Howard debacle that it isn't an automatic that stars want to play for them. Dealing Randle for someone who might leave at the end of the season would have been risky.

[TheTruthFot18]

Ugh no thanks. Until I see a huge difference two years from now, I'm glad we took Smart over him regardless of the injury.

The supposed trade for Hill and a pick was much better.

[Tr1boy]

I would of taken randle for rondo

[littleteapot]

You guys are insane. Randle is obviously an injury risk going forward but he's just an animal. I thought we sold Rondo too low, but I never thought someone like Randle was realistic. If there was any way to do it I would've traded Rondo AND Green for that guy.

[Vermont Green]

It is pretty amazing to reflect back on the range of opinion that existed regarding Rondo's trade value.  There were many people that thought it was crazy to consider trading Rondo for only Nash and Randle.  I was only luke warm about it to be honest.

I think this trade might have had a chance earlier on, say during the off season.  Ainge felt Rondo was going to have his best season of his career.  Maybe others did too.  But instead of trying to trade Rondo, Ainge tried to "build around him" by going after Love and probably some other key players.  Plenty of people seemed to agree that keeping Rondo was the way to go.

This all fell apart though because we got no one to come and play with Rondo and Rondo actually regressed and played poorly (relative to Rondo standards).  Rondo's trade value crashed and a team like the Lakers just figured they would wait until the off season or lost interest altogether.

[littleteapot]

Let me put it this way on the Rondo for Randle thing: Would the C's give up Marcus Smart for Zach Randolph? Not in a million years!

[Evantime34]

It's probably the smart move for the Lakers, but why commit to Kobe so heavily if you're not going to put a win-now team around him?  I'm sure he's thrilled.

I think that is what they will do next year. This year, if their pick isn't in the top five they lose their first. A run that put them in the playoff picture that came up just short would cost them a first this year.

[KGs Knee]

Well, I guess in hindsight it would have been better than the deal we got with Dallas.

But man, I just don't have high hopes for Randle. I think it's more likely he ends up as a bust than as a future all-star. Not a fan of his game at all.