Are Danny Ainge's Public Statements a Ploy to Increase PG Rajon Rondo's Value?

He came, he saw, he conquered.

After going through a shortened offseason and the entire regular season as the center of the Boston Celtics' trade talks as well as the NBA trade talks, PG Rajon Rondo is finally off the trading block.

According to AOL Sporting News, Danny Ainge has made clear that his young, talented point guard will no longer be in any trade discussions for the time being. The report denies a previous ESPN.com report that the team was "aggressively" trying to trade the All-Star.

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"He's our best player, he's the most important part of our future," Ainge told Boston radio station WEEI. "There's no way we're actively trying to trade Rondo. That make no sense, no logical sense."

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Yet in this same piece, Ainge also makes clear that if it was a trade that could improve the team, he would in fact trade Rondo.

The question now becomes, are these statements the raw truth, "the real deal" so to speak, or are they being done strategically in hopes to up the PG's trade value?

Although this is not something we know, we do know one thing for certain—Rajon Rondo is playing some of the best basketball of his career in the last several weeks. Coincidentally, it started just as the trade rumors began to heat up.

This season, Rondo has three triple-double performances to his name, including one in which he would record 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists—arguably the most impressive triple-double to be recorded since Chamberlain posted above 17 in each triple-double category in 1968.

Talk about impressive.

At 13.7 points per game and 4.2 free throws attempted per game, Rondo moves into career-high numbers in both fields. It is evident that the one area he lacked in, aggressiveness in the scoring department, he has improved in dramatically.

And Ainge is right, regardless of his motives. Rajon Rondo is the most important, talented player that this basketball team has. The Celtics cannot win without Kevin Garnett's range and defensive toughness, nor without a leader like Paul Pierce to takeover in the clutch, yet there is no doubt without a floor general like Rondo, this team cannot win either.

Are Ainge's statements done with the motive to improve Rondo's value? More than likely, this is not the case.

When considering just how talented, and improved a player Rondo is in 2012, there is no question that this team in fact needs him to stay.

One thing is for certain—Beantown is on hands and knees, hoping their PG and player of the future is here to stay.