Boston Celtics Should Trade Rajon Rondo, Build Around Marcus Smart

By chriscruz on October 23, 2014

Rajon Rondo should be traded.

I wrote an article about this not too long ago, but it was confirmed after last night’s effort by the Boston Celtics to beat the Brooklyn Nets. Marcus Smart scored 16 points in that effort, with four assists and two steals in 15 minutes. Boston has also picked up Will Bynum from the Detroit Pistons, giving them a young, athletic point guard core to continue after Rondo has gone.

The strategy should be to trade Rondo for draft picks, allowing Smart to develop into the best player he can be. In the meantime, Boston can pick up players in the draft similar to what the Oklahoma City Thunder did when they drafted Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden (although Durant was drafted by the team when it was in Seattle).

The rookie contracts give them the money to be able to look to make a run in free agency for someone who can bolster their team, the way that they did when they brought the first of the “big 3″ together with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Rondo no longer fits the mold of what Boston wants to do looking forward, and one can imagine that father time is beginning to creep up on Rondo, given all of his injuries to date and the miles that he has on his legs. To be sure, he is not very old. But his next move may be his last “in his prime,” and it is doubtful that he spends those years on a Boston team that is in a current state of rebuilding. Boston may also want to shed his near $13 million contract.