After months, and months, and months of speculation as to whether or not the Boston Celtics would trade the last remaining piece of the core that won a NBA championship in 2008, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has reportedly finally found the right deal for Celtics’ point guard Rajon Rondo; a trade with the Dallas Mavericks that will send Rondo to the Mavs for Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, Brandan Wright, one future first and second round pick to the C’s.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported earlier Thursday that Rondo would be “open” to re-signing with either Dallas or Houston if he was ultimately traded to either team before the deadline, according to a league source. With the Mavs and Celtics dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s at this point, it’s fair to assume Dallas is going going forward with this trade knowing Rondo will re-sign with the club and not bolt after the season.
What was already a deep, brutal conference, with the addition of Rondo into the fold for Dallas only makes things even more chaotic and unpredictable. If the playoffs started today the Mavs would be the No. 6 seed in the West, but with Rondo close to being on board moving into the top-4, or maybe even top-2, is not out of the question by season’s end.
Rondo is averaging 8.3 ppg, 10.8 apg, 7.5 rpg and 1.7 spg for the Celtics in 22 games this season. Rondo is also shooting 40 percent from the floor, 33 percent from the charity stripe and 25 percent from 3-point land.
