How To Keep Rajon Rondo – For Dummies
This has been quite the quiet summer for a rebuilding Celtics team. Just like everyone else, I was expecting “fireworks”. But it hasn’t necessarily panned out.
We got some assets, we gave up few bad contracts, and we kept our starting core. Now the big question is what do we do know? We have a total of 19 players on the roster: 3 point guards, 6 shooting guards, 4 small forwards, 3 power forwards, and 2 centers. The way I see it, is we could go one of two ways: we could “tank”, prepare for the summer of 2015 and focus all our attention on clearing up cap space and making our roster flexible or we could use Rajon Rondo, in his prime, give him some players to work with, sacrifice some cap room, and become a playoff force.
I would definitely prefer to keep Rajon Rondo. That might just be because I am definitely biased when it comes to Rondo’s future, but more importantly, when healthy, the guy is a triple double waiting to happen and has an extremely high basketball IQ. Danny Ainge hasn’t paired him with a player who is even close to his level yet, and as a result Rondo is seriously considering leaving Beantown this upcoming summer.
Jeff Green recently said he could be that type of guy, a leader both on and off the court, but I highly doubt it. Green shows flashes of brilliance, but I’ve come to the conclusion that he is nothing better than a 4th, maybe a 3rd scoring option on a team. Evan Turner was a former #2 pick, but his shooting form and desire to be great is definitely questionable. We also obtained Marcus Thornton, a former 20ppg scorer, but I don’t see him stepping into that role again. Rajon Rondo is all about winning now, and none of these guys are even close to Rondo’s level.
Because we have 19+ players on the roster, I definitely think we could make some moves to win now, rather than just throw in the towel, trade Rondo, and start from scratch. Here are two moves I think we should definitely consider, since we need to trim down the roster and convince Rondo to stay:
Green for Smith Swap
We all know Rajon Rondo has lost a few friends the past couple of years on the team. He’s lost Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Courtney Lee, and many more. One of Rajon’s best friends, Josh Smith, hasn’t even had a chance to play with him on the professional level. Josh Smith, a former all star, signed a horrendous contract last offseason with the Detroit Pistons. Smith is a lefty who is ultra-athletic, can play point forward, but he can’t shoot better than your grandmother. For some reason, Smith is allergic to taking easy shots the past few years, and instead he elects to take long jump shots and three pointers. His percentages from three throughout his career have been awful, less than 30% for most of his career.
Why would we want Smith? Well, when Smith doesn’t take ill-advised jumpshots, he is an execllent finisher in the lane, can anchor a defense, and will provide some leadership in the locker room. Also, if we are trying to keep Rondo for the long hall, this move makes absolutely perfect sense. Jeff Green, Chris Johnson, Marcus Thornton for Josh Smith would be the trade, considering the cap room the Pistons have. Check out the video below (courtesy of Protime Vids) of Rondo and Smith killing it in Oak Hill, a sign of things to come if this trade went down:
Green, Bass, and Bogans for Rudy Gay
You can see there is a pattern to my two potential trades: Jeff Green has to go. I don’t think Green is bad or anything, but he is clearly not a second best player on a team. Based on Rudy Gay’s USA team performance, Gay could fill that void. Gay can definitely do one thing well for sure, and that is score the basketball. What was one of Boston’s main deficiency’s last year? Scoring – we were rated 27th in offensive efficiency last year, and it was because we didn’t have anyone on the team that could go get us a bucket by himself, when the offense was stagnate.
Every good playoff team has a scoring option they can go to, teams need someone to step up when things get bad on the offensive end. James did it for Miami, Parker did it for the Spurs, Curry does it for the Warriors, and I believe Gay could do it for us. Rudy is in the prime of his career, and is a favorite of DeMarcus Cousins, so it might take a little more than my offer for him, but this move would keep Rondo happy and greatly improve our questionable offense.
What other moves could convince Rajon Rondo to stay with #CelticsNation?