Rajon Rondo Traded To The Mavericks.

[greenroom31]

The blind Danny humpers are out in full force....hilarious....there is isn't a single intelligent reason to do this trade. The Dallas pick is WORTHLESS and Wright could have been had in free agency. Danny has mismanaged this to the point of extending this even longer.

Fire a Danny and give someone with a brain a fresh start now!

I certainly don't love this deal but to say there's not a single intelligent reason to do the deal is too much.

The fact is that with the current lottery structure teams are rewarded for being REALLY bad, but punished for being SORT OF bad. So Ainge (in part) did this deal to improve our chances at getting a better lottery pick.

Second, Ainge did the math and decided that his value for Rondo is below what he (Rondo) would receive in free agency (pretty Belichick-ian in that regard) and made a move to get something rather than nothing. Even if you don't like the something (which I don't particularly).

Third, Ainge wanted to do the deal prior to December 19 so that he could move the pieces he acquires in the deal prior to the trade deadline this year. So he was motivated to not drag this out and have it hang over the team as well.

Fourth, we got more assets maybe we can repackage in the not too distant future as well as a very large ($12.9 million) Traded Player Exception which is actually very useful in facilitating deals and potentially acquiring talented players from teams looking to go for a rebuild (obvious example: Minnesota).

So while I don't love the particulars of what we obtained, I think the first and second points above at least provide "intelligent reasons" why this deal happened.

[greenroom31]

I don't know how it would work but maybe we can use that tpe to get Monroe.

Sure -- we would use ~$5.5 million of the $12.9 million plus draft pick(s) to get Monroe, which would leave us with a ~$7.4 million TPE and Detroit wouldn't have to take back any players or contracts.

What in the world would the Celtics do with Zeller, Sullinger, Olynyk, Wright, Bass AND Monroe. None of those guys can play SF. No team, never mind a rebuilding team, needs 6 big men. Some other guys gotta start moving out before more big men come in.

Woah woah woah -- I'm not advocating for this deal just explaining how it would work! Chill peoples.

[greenroom31]

I don't know how it would work but maybe we can use that tpe to get Monroe.

Sure -- we would use ~$5.5 million of the $12.9 million plus draft pick(s) to get Monroe, which would leave us with a ~$7.4 million TPE and Detroit wouldn't have to take back any players or contracts.

Not sure why the Celtics would trade for Monroe. No bird rights, impending free agency, no defense, kind of redundant with the roster.

I like him and all, but trading for him doesn't seem like the ideal use of (a portion of) that TPE.

Should have been more clear -- not advocating for this deal just trying to explain how it would work!

[SeizeCoup]

Ugh, I was already thinking about not renewing my season tickets... This just solidifies that decision.

I can barely give away my tickets this year. It's going to be a rough rest of the season.

[BannersOnly]

So let me get this straight. Ainge just traded the Celtics best player for JaJuan Johnson.

Why not hold out for any other future first like in 2019?

Personally I would just assume lose Rondo for nothing over the summer. I know the trade makes the team worse and improves the Celtics own pick but realisticly by how much? Two slots maybe? The Celtics are not getting a top three pick.

So what is the rebuilding plan now? I thought it was a collect assets to trade to get a star or two to pair with Rondo. Now it is to suck until some how lucking into 3 all star players in the draft?

Rondo for JaJuan Johnson.

LOL, exactly. 3 all stars are just going to pop up out of the sky for us haha...........some of our fans just don't get it.

[truth18]

[Scarletfire81]

The celtics won't be relelvant for a long time. There is no team that would have given the celtics a potential lottery pick for Rondo. Even if they got a very good player back they still wouldn't have enough to contend. This rebuilding process will take a long time and whether Ainge did good on this trade or not it probably won't matter much. By the time the celtics are good again this trade will be forgotten. I will still remain a diehard fan though.

[KGboss]

I'm not happy with the haul but I believe this will be for the best and I believe in Smart.

There must have been a reason for Danny to do this trade so quickly after the Dec 15th date. I don't see this being his last move before the February deadline.

I'm really pissed about what we got in return for Rondo. Makes me wish we traded him 2 years ago when we could have gotten something for him. Sour grapes.

We need a Rondo appreciation thread.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[ryaningf]

I mean to say I told you so on Rondo's trade value, but I did.

So... lemme just say that if you think "winning" a trade is more important than how a trade fits into the bigger picture, you can probably just stop reading this now, and you won't grasp any of it anyways.

Bottom line is that we are better off now than we were 24 hours ago. If you disagree, it's probably because you were delusional about what Rondo's trade value would be, what his next contract will be and whether or not it was going to be us to pay him that contract.

Ange just made the best of a bad situation, and we will be in a better spot this summer as a result, with another draft pick, a higher lottery pick, more cap room and more possibilities than we were looking at without this deal.

Take it like men. It's what had to be done.

Unless this trade helps us win the lottery (it's a lottery and thus causation is impossible to prove even if that does happen) or unless Danny drafts the next Jimmy Butler with Dallas's late first rounder, I don't see how we're better off than we were 24 hours ago. Everything is still dependent on Danny's ability to make good moves going forward and this deal may have created one or two more options but we're still waiting on Danny to make something of all those options. I understand how having more options is better than have less options, but he needs to actually make something happen. Free agency is another area where now we have "more options" but likely nothing to show for all that when it comes right down to getting names on dotted lines.

Take this as a slight on Rondo's ability if you must, but I don't think his absence helps this team tank any harder than it has been. Might even hurt the tank. Need to move Green, Thornton, Bass if you want to really steer this thing downward and it's questionable whether Danny can even make those things happen IMO.

OK... but IMO we have a better lottery pick now, another 1st to deal, more cap room, a big TPE and a couple of extra role player assets to deal.

Who is going to play PG again?

No one, which is fine because Brad's running an equal opportunity offense that doesn't require more than adequate PG play. With Turner, Pressey, and Smart they can get by just fine. Sure, we'll continue to blow leads in the 4th but even with all that we were 1 game back from the 8th spot.

Got to take Green off this team if you want to tank properly. One of my problems with trading Rondo is that you basically just cratered whatever value you had in Green. Making the most of the Rondo assset--if that's what this trade did--just made the least out of the Green asset.

[theman]

The blind Danny humpers are out in full force....hilarious....there is isn't a single intelligent reason to do this trade. The Dallas pick is WORTHLESS and Wright could have been had in free agency. Danny has mismanaged this to the point of extending this even longer.

Fire a Danny and give someone with a brain a fresh start now!

I certainly don't love this deal but to say there's not a single intelligent reason to do the deal is too much.

The fact is that with the current lottery structure teams are rewarded for being REALLY bad, but punished for being SORT OF bad. So Ainge (in part) did this deal to improve our chances at getting a better lottery pick.

Second, Ainge did the math and decided that his value for Rondo is below what he (Rondo) would receive in free agency (pretty Belichick-ian in that regard) and made a move to get something rather than nothing. Even if you don't like the something (which I don't particularly).

Third, Ainge wanted to do the deal prior to December 19 so that he could move the pieces he acquires in the deal prior to the trade deadline this year. So he was motivated to not drag this out and have it hang over the team as well.

Fourth, we got more assets maybe we can repackage in the not too distant future as well as a very large ($12.9 million) Traded Player Exception which is actually very useful in facilitating deals and potentially acquiring talented players from teams looking to go for a rebuild (obvious example: Minnesota).

So while I don't love the particulars of what we obtained, I think the first and second points above at least provide "intelligent reasons" why this deal happened.

If the best Danny could get for Rondo was a JaJuan Johnson equivalent. What can he get for the floxum he got from Dallas?

And how much did he improve the Celtic pick this year? If the season ended today the Celtics would have the tenth pick. Think they get better than 8?

[PaulGaston]

Been busy with work and missed the excitement. Just curious... did any of the RealGm insiders call this one?

[ryaningf]

Captain, this trade works out if we end up with Towns or Okafor or Justice, they develop into All-Star caliber players within 3 years (along with Smart) and then we somehow find that third piece while retaining our young role playing depth. But I have hard time believing that this trade increased our chances of that happening by anything more than 1 or 2 percent.

[Andrew McCeltic]

You're just thrilled you made the right prediction on this- that doesn't mean you WERE right.

What the **** does that even mean?

I mean you're crowing about guessing right on this. But it doesn't mean you were right all along about Rondo's trade value- the trade we ended up making tonight doesn't reflect what we could've gotten for Rondo at different points in the process. Only Ainge will ever know which deals he turned down.

[Captain_Caveman]

Been busy with work and missed the excitement. Just curious... did any of the RealGm insiders call this one?

What a weird take.

[WeLikeOurGuys]

My Friend is best friends with james young and none of the young guys like Wallace.

1. Don't believe that.

2. That's not how you make business decisions, based on whether on of your employees is very likeable.

Let's see, should we trade an asset to move Gerald Wallace cause the 19-23 year olds aren't best friends with him or should we save our assets and let his contract expire?....hmm tough decision.

how the hell is Gerald Wallace is asset? Please tell me what you are gonna get for him. Is it cause his contract is gonna expire next year? Look how well that's working out with the cavs with Brendan Haywood. He has no value.

I also do not care if you don't belive it! You are more then welcome to PM for my email and I will show you proof he knows james young.

[GuyClinch]

Ainge has got guts - I didn't think he had it in him. People think I am some Rondo hater and am really excited about this. But it was clear to everyone that Ainge wasn't going to get the 3 to 4 stars to surround Rondo with to get the best out of him. And it was clear to Ainge at least that Rondo was looking for greener pastures.

Rondo's going to love this trade - he gets to play with star players. He gets to live in the much cheaper state of Texas. He can now go out and play for the Max contract he wants. I bet Rondo's agent had a lot to do with this trade..

But Ainge will like this trade too. Yes he lost the trade but if you care about the franchise - and not just winning trades you should be making deals like this. A declining Rondo be yoked to the Celtics for the next 4 years? That's just murder for the franchise and the kind of trap so many franchises get into. Danny took a cold hard look and made the move that will pay off in the long run.

[Howard Mass]

On the replies to my post, I saying it shows how valuable first round picks are.

Now, Rondo becoming a free agent at year's end also probably devalued him a bit but the first is the biggest asset in the deal.

It shows how valuable they are becoming but you guys are not getting a good return here.

[Captain_Caveman]

You're just thrilled you made the right prediction on this- that doesn't mean you WERE right.

What the **** does that even mean?

I mean you're crowing about guessing right on this. But it doesn't mean you were right all along about Rondo's trade value- the trade we ended up making tonight doesn't reflect what we could've gotten for Rondo at different points in the process. Only Ainge will ever know which deals he turned down.

What it really means is that I called every single aspect of this down to the crossed t's. Right down to why we weren't even going to get a top 20 pick out of it.

One thing to disagree with me on any of it, but clear now that you didn't even understand any of it.

[greenroom31]

If the best Danny could get for Rondo was a JaJuan Johnson equivalent. What can he get for the floxum he got from Dallas?

And how much did he improve the Celtic pick this year? If the season ended today the Celtics would have the tenth pick. Think they get better than 8?

Like I said I don't love the deal so I won't sit here and defend it, but let's acknowledge that while it's rare, there are good picks in the 20's. Rondo was one of them. Also, maybe we don't end up using the pick ourselves but trading it as part of a deal for another player -- too early to judge the value/utility in my opinion.

As for how the Celtics end up, I wouldn't be surprised if we are in the range of #5. I fully expect Jeff Green to go next, and for Stevens to be told to play Smart heavy minutes at PG, with Young getting solid run at the 3 as well. A 10 man rotation of:

Smart/Nelson
Bradley/Thornton
Young/Turner
Sully/KO
Zeller/Wright

Is certainly capable of losing a lot of games...

[SD2042]

It is arguable, based on age/timing, that every player on your roster will now be playing with the best PG they have ever played with.

I won't take the time to try and figure it out for everyone, but I know Tyson Chandler played a few seasons with Chris Paul.

The better question to me is this: Can Rondo become the best PG the Mavericks have ever had. For a long time that guy was Derek Harper. A really good defender and solid offensive player. Then we had Steve Nash prior to his MVP days in Phoenix. Elite offensive player. Then we had very young and very old Jason Kidd. Those are the best guys we've ever had.

I think if Rondo signs for 4 years and sticks around through that contract at least he has a chance to eclipse those guys as far as how they played in Dallas. I'm a big fan of Rajon.

Derek Harper is a name I haven heard in years. He was one of the good ones back in the 90s'. I mostly remember him when he played with the Knicks as they were getting more play than the Mavs did back then. Either way Harper held his own and did right by the teams he played with.

As for Rondo, I feel that the move was inevitable as the Celts are destined to rebuild now. They did the right thing by moving on from Rondo in spite of all he did for the team. He gets a big salute from me on that. The Celtics will be back at full strength eventually. It will take time and lots of patience to endure.

Best of luck to RR in Dallas and best of luck to the Celtics on their rebuilding process.