Rajon Rondo Trade Rumor: Danny Ainge Needs to Keep His Mouth Shut

Rajon Rondo is one of the most mind-boggling players in the NBA. 

There seems to be a great divide in opinions on the Boston Celtics point guard. Some think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread because his passing skills and defensive abilities can allow him to single-handedly change the outcome of a game. Others think that his offensive limitations make him the most overrated player in the NBA. 

To be fair, there really aren't many players like Rondo in the league. That's precisely what makes him so confusing to interpret. 

But what's even more confusing is why Danny Ainge, the general manager of the Celtics, seems to fall squarely into the latter camp. Over the last few days, we've been inundated with rumors that the floor general with four years and $46 million left on his contract with the C's is bound to be on the move.

Chris Broussard leaked on twitter that "Boston offered Rondo & Jeff Green to OKC for Westbrook & KPerkins after last season's playoffs. OKC was not interested, sources say."

Overlooking the fact that the Celtics basically admitted they made a mistake in trading Kendrick Perkins for Green, it's interesting that the team was ready to give up on Rondo right after the season ended despite the fact that Russell Westbrook is in no way a good fit for their team. 

Now we're dealing with rumors that Ainge desperately wants the services of Chris Paul and would be willing to swap Rondo for CP3 in a blockbuster trade of top point guards.

This deal most likely won't happen though, because the New Orleans Hornets would like to receive more in return for the best point guard in the NBA and Paul, once again according to Broussard's twitter feed, would not sign an extension for Boston. 

These are the two biggest potential deals that have been revealed, but it seems to be a valid assumption that there have been a few more proposals from Ainge that just haven't surfaced yet.

I can understand why Ainge feels the need to trade Rondo. Even though he's an All-Star, he thrives on playing with other stars because he can't create opportunities for himself. I firmly believe that if Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce weren't on the team, Rondo would look like an average point guard.

With The Big Three clearly on the decline, Ainge seems to be trying to find a point guard that can provide a scoring punch of his own and, you know, occasionally make a free throw.

Let me be clear; I'm not hating on Rondo. He's a very valuable player thanks to his distributing abilities and his defensive prowess. I'm merely pointing out his obvious limitations.

Despite the necessity of a trade in Ainge's mind, he needs to go about this differently. Right now, he seems desperate and that is going to trigger a devaluing of Rondo in the minds of other general managers across the Association.

If you're going to trade an All-Star point guard in a point guard's league, you better be damn sure you're getting as much value for him as possible. Ainge is severely limiting his ability to do that.

Moreover, the general manager risks burning bridges with Rondo. Hearing your name in the press as constant trade speculation fodder does have an impact on your confidence, whether or not players like to admit it. NBA press conferences and statements are filled with "I'm a tough emotionless guy" statements and players don't want to admit that they actually want to feel needed.

Right now, Rondo is the future of the Celtics and up to now there was no reason to think that Rondo thought anything else.

Unless Ainge keeps quiet for a little while, that could all change.