NBA Trade Rumors: The Time Is Now for the Boston Celtics to Deal Rajon Rondo

The Boston Celtics appear to be heading towards a breakup with Rajon Rondo.

Rondo's name has surfaced in trade rumors pretty frequently over the last couple of months. Where there's that much smoke, there's typically fire. And from the sounds of things, the Celtics are prepared to burn the bridge between them and Rondo.

ESPN's Chris Broussard updated the Rondo situation on Wednesday, saying the team is "aggressively shopping" Rondo. There's no mention of them having a problem with Rondo's play out on the court (why would they?), but Broussard says the C's are tired of Rondo's "high-maintenance" nature and his "clashes" with head coach Doc Rivers.

They don't want to trade Rondo just to for the sake of this season, though. Broussard says the Celtics don't want to build around Rondo in the future.

It's no secret that the Big Three era is careening towards its end. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are both free agents at the end of the season, and there are reports that Allen is drawing interest on the trade market (see The Sporting News). The writing is on the wall that the Celtics need to put themselves in a position to build a completely new team.

If the Celtics are going to trade Rondo as part of the process, now is the perfect time to do it. It's no surprise that this is apparently exactly what Danny Ainge is thinking.

Rondo's value will never be higher than it is right now. Rondo has his detractors, but the accolades and the numbers support the notion that he is one of the top point guards in the NBA. He's averaged at least eight assists per game in each of the last four seasons, and this season he's turned into a capable scorer for the first time in his career.

The great unknown is how good Rondo can be without the Big Three around to help him out. Couple that big unknown with the fact that Rondo is a headache player, and it becomes obvious that the Celtics are right to be skeptical about the eventuality of building around Rondo.

The Celtics could definitely get something good in return for Rondo. Broussard mentions that they were talking to the Golden State Warriors about Stephen Curry before the start of the season. A trade for him would be one of the riskier plays Ainge could make given Curry's ankle issues, but at least it's a possibility. Assuming Ainge is shopping Rondo as aggressively as Broussard says they are, he'll uncover other possibilities.

One thing that's for sure is that the Celtics are going to be in a tough spot if they fail to trade Rondo by the deadline (March 15). Rondo's value may never be higher than it is right now, and the Celtics will probably find themselves stuck with a disgruntled player if they fail to trade Rondo.

So if the Celtics are serious about trading Rondo, they better trade him now. Parting with him will be bittersweet, but things could only get worse if they don't find a way to trade him.