Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Danny Ainge was unequivocal as you can be in speaking with A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com before the Celtics took on the Clippers Monday night.

“Rondo’s not being traded,” Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, told CSNNE.com prior to the Celtics facing the Los Angeles Clippers. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it. Rondo’s not being traded.”

He also said that the reports he had spoken with the Lakers about a Rondo for Pau Gasol trade never happened.

For the record, saying the two GMs never discussed this is very different than saying it was never discussed. Many trade discussion start out as something far more casual discussed by people farther down the basketball operations ladder. By the time it percolates up to a GM some groundwork has been done. The Gasol/Rondo talks never got that far, clearly.

Ainge also said Rondo has been very professional this season.

“Rondo, from the beginning of this year, has shown a lot of maturity in dealing with all this, back to the Chris Paul rumors and stuff,” Ainge said. “Rondo and I have had open dialogue and conversation. He knows where he stands with our organization and how important he is.”

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