Rajon Rondo Trade Yields Disappointing Return for Boston Celtics
The next stage of the Boston Celtics' rebuild appears to be in motion, and it does not include star point guard Rajon Rondo.
On Tuesday, Marc Stein of ESPN.com was the first to report that the Celtics had agreed to deal their 28-year-old captain to the Dallas Mavericks for a trade package consisting of Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, a first-round draft pick in 2015 and a second-round draft pick in 2016. Boston will also include rookie forward Dwight Powell in the deal.
| Celtics Receive | Mavericks Receive |
| Brandan Wright | Rajon Rondo |
| Jameer Nelson | Dwight Powell |
| Jae Crowder | |
| 2015 First-Round Pick | |
| 2016 Second-Round Pick | |
| $12.9 Million Trade Exception |
The deal between the two teams appeared to come together quickly over the past few days before being finalized Thursday. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported that Celtics President Danny Ainge had recently come to terms with the notion that his team would likely not be able to acquire another "impact player" to build with Rondo.
With that possibility seemingly out of reach, Ainge elected to move the four-time All-Star now instead of running the risk the star guard would walk away for nothing when he becomes a free agent next summer. Now that a deal has been made, let's evaluate the transaction, which can only be described as disappointing to most Celtics fans.
Rondo was the subject of trade rumors during nearly every season with the Celtics, as documented by Mike Prada of SB Nation, but the prevailing theory was that the Celtics never made a deal because Ainge had a high asking price for his star guard.
It’s clear Ainge’s demands came down considerably in this deal with Dallas, and Boston’s patience in finding a major return for Rondo over the years did not pay dividends.
With time running out on Rondo’s contract, the Celtics had to settle for future picks, some young role players and an aging veteran. That's a far cry from as recently as 2013, when Ainge was shooting much higher, reportedly targeting a star such as Dwight Howard in exchange for Rondo, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
That’s not to say Boston got nothing in this deal. Wright, 27, is averaging 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game and is earning $5 million in the final year of his contract. He is a defensive presence and the kind of rim protector the Celtics desperately need on their front line. He’ll have the opportunity to play starter minutes for Boston as the team evaluates his long-term future.
With a nearly league-leading PER (26.1 according to ESPN) and no longer fighting for minutes behind Tyson Chandler and Dirk Nowitzki, Wright could be in line for a breakout in green.
Crowder, 24, is a former second-round pick who has shown some promise off the bench in three seasons playing for Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, but with the Celtics likely to explore additional trades in the coming weeks, he should have an opportunity for some major minutes.
Nelson, 32, is a useful point guard, but he's nothing more than salary-filler in the deal. Given his desire to play with a contender at this stage of his career, as he told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, I expect he will be traded or waived by Boston in the coming weeks.
The timing of the deal was also crucial from the Celtics' standpoint. By completing the trade this week, they will have the opportunity to move any of their new acquisitions by the trade deadline on Feb. 19. Teams over the salary cap must have players on their roster for 60 days before they can trade them again, and the Celtics will fulfill that requirement with Wright, Crowder and Nelson by the trade deadline.
Boston will be able to trade all three players in February for additional assets if they are so inclined. Given that the offers for Rondo weren’t likely to get better as the trade deadline got closer, making the move now to guarantee the team would have that option was the safe play.
Even when you factor in that element of the deal, the return package is underwhelming for the Celtics, who were dealt a tough hand on the Rondo trade market over the last couple of years.
Several teams around the league already have strong point guards in place, so many franchises simply did not have a need for a player such as Rondo, something Ainge acknowledged last April on Felger and Massarotti on WBZ-FM, via CBSBoston.com:
"There are a lot of people that have their franchise point guards. When they go draft and bring in their guy, they don't want to pay a heavy price to get a player of Rajon’s caliber. ... They are just going to let their guy go [develop]. And now you have a lot of point guards in the league right now. There are 20 out of 30 teams probably or more that have franchise point guards they really like.
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For the few teams that could have used Rondo, his expiring contract was a roadblock preventing Boston from receiving an ample return. Why would a franchise such as the Sacramento Kings risk giving up significant assets for Rondo when he could walk away in free agency next summer?
That reasonable mindset caused the list of suitors to shrink even more, leaving only a handful of teams remaining that were appealing to Rondo long term and had assets to deal. Dallas emerged from that group of suitors with the best package.
Now that Rondo is out of the picture, the next step in Boston's rebuild is to turn the team over to a young core. Veterans on expiring contracts, such as Brandon Bass, Marcus Thornton and Jeff Green, are likely to be traded away in the coming weeks for future assets.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported the Celtics were already shopping Green earlier this week, and the team tried to trade Bass last summer, according to Zach Lowe of Grantland. Those selling trends should continue.
After recovering from injuries, rookies such as Marcus Smart and James Young will see more opportunities for minutes alongside a young front line of Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Zeller.
Boston will also receive a $12.5 million trade exception in the deal after using its own trade exceptions to absorb the salaries of Nelson, Wright and Crowder. That newly created exception and Boston’s stockpile of draft picks (nine first-rounders over the next four years) will give Ainge plenty of ammo to target an impact player via trade next offseason.
Rondo’s departure will likely make the Celtics' rebuild last longer, but it also provides the Celtics with plenty of flexibility to pursue a number of trade and free-agent possibilities in the coming seasons. The future is more uncertain than ever in Boston, but no team in the NBA may be better equipped to build for it than the Celtics.
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