Bill Simmons: The Ultimate Celtics Homer

[Don Ford]

Bill Simmons just posted his top 40 rankings for the players with the highest trade value, He actually has Rondo ranked 26th, ahead of OJ Mayo, Amare Stoudemire, Al Horford, LaMarcus Aldridge, Caron Butler, Josh Smith, Kevin Martin, and David West, and only 2 spots lower than Bynum.

I'm actually amazed that he doesn't have Perkins in the top 40.

He also has Kobe ranked 6th.

How does this guy manage to keep getting paid to write his Celtics propoganda?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090212

[crazyeights]

Isn't this trade value and not pure rankings? He says he has Kobe as his 2nd in MVP. Simmons is a guy you have to laugh with. He's a blogger, not some analyst. Though whenever he's not splewdging over the Celts and hating on Kobe, I find him oddly perceptive.

[dockingsched]

with bynum's 2nd major knee injury in two seasons and his status as a poison pill player that makes him almost impossible to trade, im surprised he's even on a trade value list.

[slifersd]

Personally, I loved reading that article because I couldn't stop laughing at his jokes. And the thing I respect about this guy is, at least he openly admits that he is a Celtics fan. When you are a fan, you are a bit biased, that's just the way it is. To me, this guy beats the hell out of those analysts in the media who pretend to be fair and unbiased.

[TylersLakers]

You guys have to get past the Kobe hate sometimes.

This wasn't "best" players. It was a ranking coming down to the trade deadline about who is most likely to be traded - who isn't.

I find him hilarious and he actually had the Lakers beating the Celtics last year in the finals in 5 games. I remember reading his prediction article and the highlight of the series would be a huge Kobe dunk and KG and Perkins moving out of the way because they didn't want to be in the poster.

Just chill sometimes, guys.

[Dr Aki]

dude, he clearly says hes taking into account contracts' sizes

kobe has less worth because simply because hes earning more

you guys need to see that theres no difference between players 1-6

because never in a million years will those guys ever be traded anyway

[TylersLakers]

dude, he clearly says hes taking into account contracts' sizes

kobe has less worth because simply because hes earning more

you guys need to see that theres no difference between players 1-6

because never in a million years will those guys ever be traded anyway

Exactly. The only way those 6 would get traded would be, for example, if you had Kobe and LeBron on the same team. Which one would you trade first? I'm the biggest of Laker homers and even I could say Kobe would be traded first because of the age difference.

[hermes]

he said bynum would be at least 4 spots higher if he hadn't gotten hurt

i actually like Simmons i've been reading his stuff for a few years, just have to look past the celtic stuff

because he knows his basketball

[crazyeights]

Tyler, in response to the Lakers winning the finals...Simmons was doing reverse psychology fanning.

He was scared to get hurt so he convinced himself that his team (with home court advantage and the best defense in the league) had no chance against our surging Lakers.

He wasn't being unbiased.

[J Rob]

Towards the bottom, the list basically becomes a least likely to get traded list. Its hard to argue Kobe ahead of any of those guys due to his contract, age, and the fact he almost got traded last year.

Plus he's still in the "untouchable" group so I don't have a problem with it at all. In fact, Bill Simmons is probably my favorite NBA writer out there right now.

He is far and away the funniest writer out there and keeps a relatively unbiased perspective while still being a fan.

Tbh, threads like this are why Simmons mocks us Laker fans. I probably would too.

Not everything has to point to Kobe or even the Lakers being #1. At the end of the day, its just basketball and we Laker fans take this stuff waaaaaaaaaay too seriously.

[Don Ford]

[quote="J Rob"]
Tbh, threads like this are why Simmons mocks us Laker fans. I probably would too.
quote]


Really?? So I'm the only one that thinks Rajon Rondo having more trade value than OJ Mayo, Amare Stoudemire, Al Horford, LaMarcus Aldridge, Caron Butler, Josh Smith, Kevin Martin, and David West is unrealistic? Or to put it another way, how long do you think that it would take the Celtics to say yes if they were offered any one of those guys in a straight up trade for Rondo? Rondo is an above average defender and a slightly above average distributor but he can't consistently make a wide open 15 ftr and he's shooting 62% from the FT line (for comparison, Shaq is at 61%). He's a role player, a good role player but still just a role player, and his trade value is nowhere near that of any of those I mentioned above, I don't care what his salary is.

Here's to hoping that none of you guys are one of Mitch's assistants.

[Sedale Threatt]

Well, the category he's in says it all: He's worth more to us than he is to you. Keeping in mind that the Celtics are built to win right now, I'd be willing to guarantee they wouldn't trade Rondo for any of those guys you've listed.

He's a hugely valuable player to them, somebody who can provide major impact -- defense, rebounding, distribution -- without scoring the ball. Guys like that aren't easy to find, especially at point guard. He's a poor man's Jason Kidd, which is pretty solid, especially when surrounded by players like KG, Pierce and Allen.

All of the players you've listed play positions that the Celtics already have covered with a Hall of Fame veteran, so that's not happening. The only guy I think they'd consider is Kevin Martin. But again, are you going to trade Rondo for a marginal improvement over Allen, or do you keep your starting PG who is a perfect fit for your team?

I say no. Rondo's technically not a better player than any of those guys, but that's not the point of the piece. It's value in relation to the specific teams these guys play for -- as JRob put it, a least-likely-to-get-traded list once you get near the bottom.

As such, you'd have to do better than those guys to get the Celtics to give up Rondo, in my opinion.

[Don Ford]

Well, the category he's in says it all: He's worth more to us than he is to you. Keeping in mind that the Celtics are built to win right now, I'd be willing to guarantee they wouldn't trade Rondo for any of those guys you've listed.

He's a hugely valuable player to them, somebody who can provide major impact -- defense, rebounding, distribution -- without scoring the ball. Guys like that aren't easy to find, especially at point guard. He's a poor man's Jason Kidd, which is pretty solid, especially when surrounded by players like KG, Pierce and Allen.

All of the players you've listed play positions that the Celtics already have covered with a Hall of Fame veteran, so that's not happening. The only guy I think they'd consider is Kevin Martin. But again, are you going to trade Rondo for a marginal improvement over Allen, or do you keep your starting PG who is a perfect fit for your team?

I say no. Rondo's technically not a better player than any of those guys, but that's not the point of the piece. It's value in relation to the specific teams these guys play for -- as JRob put it, a least-likely-to-get-traded list once you get near the bottom.

As such, you'd have to do better than those guys to get the Celtics to give up Rondo, in my opinion.

Rondo is a perfect fit for the Celtics but trade value is what you can get for a player. Do you really think that Rondo would bring back as much in a trade as OJ Mayo, or Josh Smith, or Caron Butler?

[crazyeights]

"He's worth more to us than he is to you." Meaning that yes he wouldn't bring back as much value. But paradoxically it means that he's worth even more, because they couldn't ever get a fair deal for him.

[Sedale Threatt]

Bingo. Simmons isn't just taking raw talent into account. He's looking at that plus age, contract, how a player does or doesn't fit with his particular team, etc.

I highly doubt it, but on another team Rondo might be crap. With the Celtics he's ideal, and the only player I'd see them trading him for is a franchise center or a better point guard considering they've got the other three positions on their team locked down.

Rondo is a perfect fit for the Celtics but trade value is what you can get for a player. Do you really think that Rondo would bring back as much in a trade as OJ Mayo, or Josh Smith, or Caron Butler?

No, but conversely, the Celtics wouldn't give Rondo up for any of those players. That's the whole point of the exercise. Rondo is exceedingly valuable to his team, hence he's that high on the list. I'm not sure how else we can explain this.

[Dr Aki]

^^ because rondo is the glue that holds them all together

and being the only true point guard on that team, theres no way celtics trade rondo for butler, mayo or josh smith

and unlike the pistons, don't have a young point they might try to develop, he IS the young point they're trying to develop

[triplethreatt]

Rondo is severely overvalued. You mean he gets open looks (that he can't cash in) and open lanes to the basket playing with three future HOFers? He can take chances defensively with KG and Perkins behind him? Imagine that. Put Rondo on the Celtics without Allen and KG and tell me where they are. Lottery.

[hermes]

Rondo is severely overvalued. You mean he gets open looks (that he can't cash in) and open lanes to the basket playing with three future HOFers? He can take chances defensively with KG and Perkins behind him? Imagine that. Put Rondo on the Celtics without Allen and KG and tell me where they are. Lottery.

no kidding

i bet you could say that about any team where you remove two HOFers

[lakeshow954]

Bill Simmons is the ultimate hater and hommer. Every single year he picks a different guy who is better then Kobe. Nash,KG, now Lebron. He will never say Kobe is the best never. Rondo having more trade value then those names is a joke. If the Celtics put Rondo on the tradeing block the phone would be far from ringing off the hook. The Suns said all 29 teams called about Amare. I know at least 15 teams who would not want Rondo to be any more then a back up. Put Rondo on any lottery team and what does he make them? A lottery team

[Dr Aki]

^^ u kidding me? rondo? hed have suitors all the way from SA, portland, minnesota, houston to atlanta, new york and indiana

take off those P&G glasses and read what the rules he's following are