Rajon Rondo is returning soon, so the Boston Celtics must…
Nothing, really.
I guess they’ll have to move Keith Bogans to the inactive list, but that’s really the extent of it. Considering Bogans is excused from the team for personal reasons and rarely played prior to that, the move has no significance.
The Celtics don’t need to trade or waive anyone, because Rondo already occupies a roster spot. That’s just how the NBA works.
But they might make a move, anyway.
Longtime NBA writer and longtime NBA rumormonger Peter Vecsey:
With Rondo about 2B activated, Celtics are close 2 dealing Jordan Crawford. BK, Clips, Suns, Rockets, Warriors are interested
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) January 15, 2014
If you’re looking to determine the reliability of that tweet – always a necessary task with Vecesey, who sometimes breaks news and sometimes spreads nonsense – here’s a follow-up tweet.
@jacobfagan impossible to know all teams or be correct about all those named. Kings may very well want Crawford, offering Fredette perhaps
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) January 15, 2014
I get the part about it being impossible to name every interested team. But impossible to be correct about the teams he named? OK.
Besides his own tweet undermining his credibility, Vecsey’s initial claim contradicts an agreement made in the aftermath of the Doc Rivers-to-the-Celtics saga. The reliable Ken Berger of CBSSports.com:
Doc Rivers' compensation agreement states that Celtics and Clippers can't exchange players until the end of the '13-'14 season, source says.
— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) June 25, 2013
Vecsey not being aware of the Rivers agreement – which, possibly, could have been overturned since – doesn’t mean the rest of the initial report is inaccurate. But it does raise doubts.
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Despite all that, trading Crawford, whose rookie-scale contract expires after the season, makes some sense for the Celtics.
Crawford is having his best season, significantly raising his assist rate and lowering his turnover rate while playing a lot of lead guard in Boston. He really rises to the occasion when pressed into a larger role, as he did when starting for the Wizards last season.
But his focus wanes in smaller roles, the type of role he’d occupy for a quality team that would acquire him by giving up a future asset to the rebuilding Celtics.
Maybe Boston could get a second rounder for him – if he’s actually close to being traded.