Boston Celtics Trading Rajon Rondo For Russell Westbrook?

Let’s thank the hoops Gods that summer is coming to a close. Although Team USA is hot right now defeating international competition, the NBA as a whole is relatively cool at the moment. This momentary cooling of the league typically has a converse effect on the rumor mill, heating things up by throwing something out there and hoping it sticks.

This one doesn’t stick well, it simply stinks.

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Still with no confirmation as to whether Boston Celtics point guard

has officially requested a trade, there are some that believe the Boston Celtics are currently working to fulfill Rondo’s rumored wish to be moved before the regular season starts in October. It’s likely that Rondo has expressed interest in moving on.

Players don’t play on a high level for their entire careers, and the ability to compete for a championship dwindles away every season. Like most in his talent bracket, Rondo wants to win — now.

However when Sporting News writer Sean Deveney sat down with SB Nation’s Celtics Blog, he opened a can of worms that needed to be sealed tight and locked in for freshness at this time of the year. Perhaps at any time of the year.

When asked if there were any teams out there that might be in the Rondo market that have gone unmentioned at this point, Deveney responded with,

"“The Thunder could be one to watch. They have pieces to shed in a sign-and-trade, and a Russell Westbrook-Rondo backcourt would be fascinating. Might not work financially, but it’s a possibility.”"

Deveney continued with,

"“Remember, a lot of teams have really good point guards, but they are more like shooting guards, and teams are more willing to try playing those combinations together, as Phoenix and Minnesota did last year and as teams like Utah and Orlando are likely to try this year."

It’s ironic that all of the four teams that Deveney mentioned (Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic) as an example of starting point guard combos were lottery teams this year. The Phoenix Suns’ success with Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic may have been the exception to the rule, however the combo point guard idea isn’t growing into a trend that will be adopted by any championship caliber teams within the near future.

Remember when you were told to watch your words at a young age? Well that was for a reason! These scenarios spread quick. In barely 24 hours one “sports writer” has warped Deveney’s comments into a straight up trade swap of Westbrook and Rondo scenario. 

Say it with me … nonsense.

Sure the Thunder’s championship window is closing. They’ve gone from the team that had the most promise to one of the squads with quite a few question marks. It’s still unknown as to whether Kevin Durant and Westbrook are a championship pair, if head coach Scott Brooks is the man for the job, or if they made a fatal mistake in exiling James Harden.

One thing is for sure. The Oklahoma City Thunder are not interested in trading Russell Westbrook for Rajon Rondo. However to be absolutely sure let’s apply some reality to the situation. First and probably most important, the salaries of Rondo and Westbrook don’t match, therefore an even swap isn’t possible under CBA rules which stipulate Boston can’t receive more than 125 percent plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted.

Beyond the issue of loot, the Thunder would never move Westbrook, especially for Rondo due to Westbrook’s scoring importance to the team. Last season Russ was third in usage as the Thunder scored 30 percent of their points with him on the floor.  Rondo’s never cracked the top five in scoring usage with the Celtics, while playing with teammates that don’t hold a candle to Kevin Durant’s scoring ability.

In fact, Rondo’s highest scoring usage percentage with the C’s has been a career-high 18.8 percent. That’s a huge dip in scoring Oklahoma City’s not willing to accept, and adding the league’s premier distribution point guard isn’t overly attractive when you’re running isolation offense majority of the time. There’s also that small factor of Rondo not appearing in more than 60 games within the last three seasons.

It’s not brain surgery, it’s basketball.

Back to Deveney. When a player of Rajon Rondo’s caliber is mentioned in potentially wanting out of his current situation, the entire league takes notice, not just a few teams. Every organization wants a Rajon Rondo whether they can use him or not, thus asking if any teams are interested in his service is more or less an empty question worthy of an equally hollow response.

This rumor has no legs, on a scale of one to 10 I’d give it a minus-3. This rumor needs to crawl right back to where it came from and die.