The question of whether or not the Celtics will trade Rajon Rondo is getting ridiculously old but unfortunately it’ll continue until they finally bring another star in or actually trade him AND remember Rondo hits free agency next summer so the clock is ticking. Though they missed out on the free agent frenzy of 2014 and the chance to trade for Kevin Love, they haven’t given up hope yet. Now they’ve set their sights on a new player.
via ProBasketballTalk:
Boston-based Sporting News NBA reporter Sean Deveney appearing on a recent episode of the Celtics Beat podcast suggested that not only do the Celtics plan to keep Rondo, but that they want to pair him with another star free agent, potentially Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol.
(Skip to the 27-minute mark here for the discussion, which started with the question of whether the Celtics would be willing to offer Rondo a max contract):
I think a lot of that is going to depend on how he plays, and a lot of that depends on whether they can get another max guy in here to play with Rondo. I think that’s really how it’s going to play out, the Celtics are going to try to use all the assets they have over the course of this year to add another big-time piece. The kind of deal that they would like to make in the next few months is where you have a star who’s unhappy and a team looking to unload a big-time player in return for some long-term assets. That’s the kind of thing that the Celtics are looking for.
Now, if that doesn’t happen, they’re going to have to rely on free agency, and that can be much trickier. But if keeping Rondo and paying him a max deal is going to help them get somebody like a Marc Gasol or somebody of that caliber, then that’s what they have to do. If that means overpaying Rondo somewhat in the short term here, if that’s what it takes to get that other star player, then that’s what they’re going to do.
