The Boston Celtics had a busy offseason, trading away faces of the franchise while trying to build for the future. Left on the roster is a bunch of young talent, veterans with favorable contracts and point guard Rajon Rondo. However, will Rondo be in the long-term plans for new head coach Brad Stevens?
Since entering the league, Rondo has proved doubters wrong and has turned himself into a fantasy basketball star. He has never been a huge scorer, and his jump shot is inconsistent, but he finds a way to create offense for himself and others. On the other side of the ball, he is a hard-nosed defender who does not back down.
While his talent and fantasy basketball skills can’t be denied, Rondo has never been asked to be a true leader on a team in the NBA. He has had Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to handle that for him, but they are gone.
New head coach Brad Stevens built his reputation at Butler by recruiting a certain type of player. Ever since he was hired as the new coach, there has been speculation that Stevens will not mesh well with the personality of Rondo. The two parties insist there will be no issue, but if the losses start to pile up, the Celtics could very well be looking to move the point guard.
As of right now, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is adamant that Rondo is a Celtic for the foreseeable future. However, no one knows for sure who might be available in a trade in the middle of the 2013-2014 season. Rondo has a title under his belt, and he has always had a reputation as a big-game type of player. For a team that is just one piece away from a title run, they might be willing to part with some young, promising pieces or draft picks.
Ultimately, it would probably be in the best interest of the Celtics to trade Rondo if they can while his value is still high. He will need to show he is fully recovered from his ACL injury when he gets back on the court, but that shouldn’t be a huge issue. With the Celtics in full rebuilding mode, a pass-first point guard as a star doesn’t seem like the best fit. The only people looking forward to having Rondo stick around in Beantown are fantasy basketball owners.