Boston Celtics Daily Dish: About Point Guards And Kickboxing

Good morning, Celtics nation!

Now that Autumn is officially here, we can start puckering up in anticipation of kissing the summer blues good-bye!  NBA training camps open as early as Saturday for teams competing in preseason contests outside of North America (all other NBA teams begin on Tuesday), and the preseason begins on October 5, so yeah: it’s time.

Let’s see what our Daily Dish has to offer today!

When I headed over to NBA.com, the first thing I noticed was that today’s NBA Blogtable focused on none other than the Boston Celtics’ point guard, Rajon Rondo.   Let’s take a sneak peak:

"You’re Danny Ainge: Why are you hanging onto Rajon Rondo? What would it take for you to part with him?Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: Ainge hasn’t traded Rondo yet because he hasn’t gotten a good enough offer. Rondo is completely out of synch with the Celtics’ current blueprint, in salary, in demeanor, in his career arc. He totes baggage, too, as far as coachability and his freedom to sign elsewhere next summer. This is a job for Ainge’s old buddy Kevin McHale (and McHale’s boss, Daryl Morey). Picks and/or prospects would get ‘er done, if I were Ainge, no marquee names necessary.Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: He’s an All-Star level point guard. He’s 28 years old, certainly not at the end of his rope. As you’re trying to build a new generation Celtics team, it doesn’t hurt at all to have a point guard with his talent and experience to show the way. He wants to stay. What would it take? Another All-Star in his prime or a young talent capable of getting there."

Make sure you read all of the responses – I find it amusing how divided NBA pundits are when it comes to what the Celtics should do with Rondo.

Yesterday, I published a piece on what Rajon Rondo will have to do if he wants to earn a max salary.  Then this happened:

So if Bledsoe is worth $70 mil . . . mna, the NBA is just playing with Monopoly money now.  This piece would argue that the Phoenix Suns won’t regret this deal, though, so read all about it and see on which side you stand.

The Boston Celtics have high hopes for rookies Marcus Smart and James Young.  Best case scenario?  One of these guys winds up winning some awards, and hopefully an NBA championship!  Worst case scenario?  One of them ends up quitting basketball and becoming a kickboxer.

Finally: speaking of Marcus Smart, I know there are many people who would like to see him start at shooting guard alongside Raon Rondo.  Here are the pros and cons of such a move including this little snippet:

"The sky is the limit for Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart. A tenacious rookie out of Oklahoma State, Smart was selected by the Celtics with the No. 6 overall pick in the draft for one obvious reason: Boston feels he could be a cornerstone for the future of the franchise.The question is, should the C’s start Smart (try saying that five times fast) alongside Rajon Rondo right out of the gate, or should they exercise patience and allow him to grow off the bench?"

Thanks for checking out today’s Daily Dish – hope you enjoyed the reads!