After last season’s playoffs, the Celtics offered Rondo and Jeff Green to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins, sources have told Broussard. The Celtics, looking for another scorer who can create his own offense, thought Westbrook might be available after his erractic postseason play. But Oklahoma was not interested in the deal.
Courtesy Of ESPN Boston
The time to build NBA rosters is upon us so let the rumors begin to spread like a wild fire. Some rumors have a lot of truth to them and others are complete garbage. Unless you have been living under a rock, the Celtics appear to want to deal Rajon Rondo if the price is right. That price is of course Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. This rumor makes sense for a lot of reasons and the rumors of Ainge wanting Paul have been going on for a LONG TIME NOW. I would not be surprised if Ainge engaged in talks with New Orleans because the slick shooting Paul would add a lot to the Boston offensive attack.
However, Chris Broussard of ESPN has tweeted an absurd report that Ainge offered Rondo and Jeff Green to the Thunder for Kendrick Perkins and Michael Westbrook. He cites alleged sources and claims the Thunder wanted no part of this deal. This reeks of a false rumor.
The first issue I have is I find it hard to believe that Ainge wanted Perkins back. One of the reasons Perkins was dealt was because Ainge felt that Perkins was often injured due to his physical pounding style of play. He did not know how long his body would hold up and did not want to give him a big contract and risk having an often injured center. Ainge also wants to make a serious run at Dwight Howard and with Perkins on the roster that was not going to happen. Ainge also wanted to get younger and more athletic and that meant landing Jeff Green.
Another issue I have with this is OKC would not rather have Rondo over Westbrook? I am not buying that one bit after Westbrook helped melt down the entire Thunder team come playoff time. I understand Westbrook is a very talented player. He is a gifted scorer and a physical defender. However, he wants to be the man on this team and take the big shots. The problem is Kevin Durant is on the roster and is one of the top five players in the league. His job should be getting the ball to him and setting his teammates up for easy baskets after the defense respects his offense. Westbrook would rather shoot a tough shot than give up the ball to an open man. Enter Rondo into the team. The unselfish PG would have no trouble making his teammates like Durant, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka better by getting them open looks. Rondo also plays solid defense and is an all star for a reason. I find it hard to believe that the Thunder would not at least look at this deal a little.
I do believe that Ainge called to see if Westbrook was available and if so find out if the Thunder would be interested in Rondo. It is Ainge’s job as the team’s builder to job to kick the tires on every trade scenario. My guess is people looked at cap figures and realized that Green and Perkins might match up contract wise and filled in the blanks to make a juicy rumor. However, I would not read too much into this rumor. This one was probably just reported to get Mr. Broussard some publicity and views. Remember Go Green Or Go Home!!!!!!!!!!
