NBA Trade Rumors: Celtics Should Move Paul Pierce, Ray Allen Before Rajon Rondo

The latest rumors are that the Boston Celtics are shopping Rajon Rondo on some level. Whether that shopping is a matter of fielding calls or aggressively pursuing trades is unknown. Whichever it is, the Celtics might want to reconsider which players they should be shopping. 

There's a general feeling that because Rajon Rondo is not a primary scorer, he's not the best player to build a team around. That's true—he's not. He's not a good shooter and shoots just .357 away from the rim.

He knows he's limited, however, and limits his shooting away from the rim.

I like to think of Rondo as more of a race-car driver than race car. Derrick Rose is a race car. He can lead a team with both his scoring and passing. Rondo, however, might be the best driver in the league. He can handle a team and pass as well as anyone.

You can build a team around Derrick Rose. Rajon Rondo not so much. He's not the key component to a championship team. 

Not being the key component doesn't mean you can't be a key component though. Paul Pierce still has three years left on his contract. Ray Allen, meanwhile, is in the final year of a $10 million contract, and there are some teams who could be interested. 

Moving Pierce or Allen could bring back serviceable pieces in return and free up money to make a bid for a franchise player. With Garnett's and Allen's contracts expiring, if they could relieve themselves of both (if not all three of the contracts of the big three), they could be major bidders in the free-agent market.

Then they could land that player to build around, and, as such, they'll already have that key player (Rondo) who can play tough defense, facilitate the ball, and run the offense.

I've never been a fan of teams digging one hole to fill another. It's going to be tough to find a player who can fill the hole left by Rondo's departure for what Rondo makes. For that reason the Celtics should be looking more towards trading the senior players than Rondo.