Boston Celtics: What To Do With Rajon Rondo

The last time Rajon Rondo stepped onto an NBA court, he was starting alongside future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, he was being coached by one of the best in the league in Doc Rivers and his team, despite its record at the time, had championship aspirations. Fast forward just a few months and after suffering a torn ACL in Atlanta on Jan. 25, Rondo is now the lone remaining member of the 2008 championship squad, he is the only player on the roster to have experienced significant playoff success and is suddenly the veteran on a team full of young players and uncertainty.

When the deal with the Brooklyn Nets that includes Pierce, Garnett and Jason Terry is completed July 10, the Celtics will suddenly have a roster that in no way resembles the one full of championship pedigree they have fielded for the past five seasons. Rondo, who has since established himself as an outstanding player in the postseason, one who lifts his game when the lights are brightest, could be facing a season of rebuilding, developing young players and uncertainty around his future. Trade rumors are nothing new to Rondo or any other Celtic, general manager Danny Ainge is renowned for his willingness to make huge deals, which has only been reinforced by sending out Garnett and Pierce. The Celtics’ roster as it stands is well over the allowed 15 players, has deep holes in certain areas and is by no means a finished product. The biggest and most important piece to this entire rebuilding effort for Ainge hinges on what he decides to do with Rondo, for which there are three distinct options.

Will Rajon Rondo still be in Boston next season? Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule, Flickr.com

The first option would be to rebuild the team around Rondo as its veteran leader. Go with a full youth rebuild through the draft, bottom out for a top pick in the stacked 2014 draft and hope to land the franchise’s next superstar. Rondo is still relatively young and if he saw the long-term prospects of the team, a chance to become the veteran mentor to young players like he had in Garnett and Pierce, as well as the chance to boost his individual statistics while the team rebuilds, he could be convinced to stick around. It would be a long process and perhaps after being spoiled early in his career with such a successful team, Rondo would have no interest on sticking around while the team rebuilds around rookies. Rondo is an extremely intelligent player both on and off the court but is also notoriously difficult to deal with. There are reported altercations with former coach Doc Rivers and it remains to be seen how he would deal with the responsibility of being the veteran leader on a team as well as developing a relationship with whoever the Celtics bring in to next coach the team. Danny Ainge recently said he intends to build the team around Rondo and this may well be his first priority, but with just two seasons left on his contract and uncertainty around how Rondo will react to the major changes to the team we will see if it is still his priority.

The second option for Ainge also involves keeping his star point guard, but trying to instantly put a contending team around him rather than wait out a long rebuilding process. While all signs point towards the Celtics going with a full rebuild and being a poor team next season, Ainge has suddenly amassed a ton of trade assets and could play his hand sooner than most expect. The Celtics now have a total of nine first-round picks in the next four drafts as well as a number of second rounders. They have Jared Sullinger, Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk, MarShon Brooks and potentially more sitting on cheap, rookie-scale contracts as well as a huge expiring contract in Kris Humphries. The assets are there for the Celtics to make not just one, but potentially two, big trades for disgruntled stars or sign-and-trade for restricted free agents. They have previously been linked to Rondo’s former high-school teammate, Josh Smith, and Ainge has shown a willingness to use his stockpile of assets to bring in big names, as he first did with Garnett and Ray Allen. It remains to be seen who Ainge would potentially target if this is his aim, but no doubt he will constantly be doing his homework to find out which star players are available and will be willing to cash in his chips when the time is right.

The final option and the one that we will probably be hearing the most about in the media for the next few weeks is to continue the detonation of the team and trade Rondo. While he is still rehabbing from his ACL injury, Rondo is a young, experienced star point guard with multiple All-Star appearances, an NBA championship, All-Defensive team appearances and a reputation for stepping up his game in the postseason. Despite injury concerns his trade value would still be quite high around the league and if Ainge believes he could be a distraction to a young rebuilding team, he could decide to move on sooner rather than later. Another problem with keeping Rondo around if you are trying to get a top pick in 2014 is that he alone may be good enough to propel the team to enough wins to take you out of the running for the top selections. Rondo’s experience and competitiveness may drive the team to overachieve and cause the Celtics to miss out on a coveted high pick in 2014. Ainge could decide to start the season with Rondo on the roster, with the understanding that he needs to prove he is healthy and can play at a high level without Pierce and Garnett, maximizing his trade value during the season. Regardless, this option is very much in play and the Celtics would expect great value in return for their All-Star guard.

Whatever happens, things are going to be dramatically different in Boston next season and this offseason has only just begun for Ainge and his staff. There has been no word from Rondo on his reaction to the news of Rivers, Pierce, Garnett and Terry departing and it will be extremely interesting to see what his take is once he finally speaks out. Ainge has just made two huge moves that will dramatically change the course of the franchise, but the biggest decision may come when deciding what to do with Rajon Rondo.