When the Celtics sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets for loose parts and future draft choices, the team made the decision to begin the long, arduous rebuilding process perhaps a season or two before it was truly necessary.
The one star-level player remaining on the roster in Boston is point guard Rajon Rondo, and many believed he was next to go, should the right package be offered in return -- you know, something along the lines of the expiring $22 million-dollar contract of Dirk Nowitzki, as an example.
But that’s not the plan at the moment, according to Celtics’ GM Danny Ainge, who intends to keep Rondo in the fold as the team gets younger around him.
From Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston:The Boston Celtics plan to continue the summer cleaning of their roster, and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he welcomes all calls on his team’s talent but stressed again Monday that Boston does not currently plan to move All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo as part of the rebuilding process.
“I always listen to calls and listen to what ideas are, but we have no intentions of moving Rajon,” Ainge said.
Rondo’s name has surfaced in trade rumors more than once over the last few seasons, but the Celtics have been unwilling to deal the dynamic point guard who remains one of the game’s best, despite his frigid personality, even among teammates.
Rebuilding in the NBA is a necessity, but it doesn’t always mean you need to start completely from zero. Rondo is an elite player, and it helps to have a starting point, because no matter how bad of a season or seasons a team endures, top talent via the number one or two overall picks in the draft is far from guaranteed -- just ask the Portland Trail Blazers about that.
Ainge has come out and said that the team is not tanking. Keeping Rondo -- or at least saying publicly that’s the plan -- is one way to go about proving it.