Why The Celtics Shouldn't Trade Rajon Rondo

Rondo is the future of the Celtics; trading him would be a disaster.

Now that the NBA is slowly shifting into gear, trade rumors have been swirling more like an annoying Category 1 Hurricane than anything else. One of the players thrown into the trade mix is Rajon Rondo.

Rondo is one of the NBA's most eclectic players. Though he's among the elite PGs in the league (#6 on ESPN's NBARank, a little low I think) he has no scoring touch, can't shoot, and turns down shots all too often. What makes Rondo so special is his ability to everything else better than his counterparts. He is THE best defending point guard, THE best passing point guard, and I'm going to go ahead and say he has  THE best handles in the league. He's also probably the second fast point guard behind MVP Derrick Rose, who gets to the rack like a train, literally. As a fan of the Knicks and an avid Celtics hater, I hate watching Rondo play. He's a pest, he's a punk. Rajon Rondo is like a thief in the night who can handle the rock and make plays with his vision and passing.

However, since Rajon Rondo has no scoring ability whatsoever, he cannot be Mr. Solo Dolo. He needs to be surrounded by scorers. So when the Celtics acquired Rondo in '06, they had nicely surrounded their still undiscovered star PG with Ray Allen and KG by 2007. What happened in 2007-08? Yeah Rondo helped the Celtics win the NBA Championship. Then in the 2008-09 playoffs, Rondo almost averaged a double-double in the 14 games they C's played. Rondo is a player that you can't just build around, you must build around. But when you do, you will reap the benefits.

Now that I'm done with the history lesson, here's the story. The C's are aging. This is probably their last hoorah. Actually we might even be a year late. Either way, the Celtics are in the process of rebuilding, no matter how you slice it. Danny Ainge, who transformed from the best GM in the league to the worst GM in the league in less than three years thanks to the Kendrick Perkins trade, now wants to dump Rajon Rondo to acquire Chris Paul. Actually, he wanted to dump Rajon Rondo in the Perkins trade to acquire my boy Russell Westbrook. The Thunder, actually, might have made a mistake not acquiring Rondo, but that's for Westbrook to prove us wrong on. Danny Ainge instead settled for Jeff Green, proclaiming that Green could become a Pierce-like scorer. Well then Danny, why trade Rondo? Does really not think they're going to acquire Dwight Howard? That's the goal isn't it? Or is Danny Ainge trying to cut his losses by performing a complete upheaval of the entire future?

It's completely and utterly Danny Ainge's fault that the Celtics are in the position even to REMOTELY ponder the idea of trading Rajon Rondo. Ainge jumped the gun on the trade for Green, thinking he was something way more than he is. Jeff Green is a nice NBA player, he can score, he can play a little defense, but he is not what Ainge mistaken him for. He is no future top-20 player and even more important than that, his worth comes NOWHERE close to Kendrick Perkins' worth. But still, Rondo can turn mediocre offensive players into scoring phenoms. He can do the same to Green. So why trade Rondo? Let's say you get Rondo to team up with Howard and Jeff Green, maybe get some nice pieces around those guys? I'll tell you what. That would be a hell of a defensive team and I think Rondo could maximize Dwight Howard's size and strength better than any other PG in the league.

For now Ainge is simply trying to dig himself out of a hole that he personally dug. Trading Rondo, a guy who was instrumental in the '08 NBA Championship, would be disrespectful and wrong. Chris Paul simply isn't the savior Ainge thinks he is. Plus last time I checked, Paul wants no part of Boston. So, Danny, let's not commit sports suicide. Keep Rondo, sign Howard, and get on with your life. You blew it with the Perkins trade, and you simply can't change the past, no matter how hard you try.