Rajon Rondo isn’t going anywhere.
Don’t pay attention to the trade rumors that have Rondo headed to Memphis for the No. 2 overall pick or leaving town in a deal that would bring aging point guard Steve Nash to Boston, either.
It’s not going to happen.
The Celtics still have a window to win another championship -- and the chances will dramatically decrease with a new point guard in the mix.
It’s not that Rondo is untradeable, because for the right price, Celtics boss Danny Ainge would pull the trigger.
But Ainge knows better than anyone that this is hardly the draft to mortgage a key piece -- and the C’s aren’t going to acquire Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Derrick Rose via trade.
The draft is weak.
No, it’s downright abysmal.
No one -- except for future Los Angeles Clipper Blake Griffin -- is going to be an instant franchise-changer.
This is about as listless a draft as we’ve seen in the past decade or so.
Ainge does like Arizona State’s James Harden, Memphis’ Tyreke Evans, UConn 7-footer Hasheem Thabeet and even Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio.
But not enough to deal Rondo.
Rondo won’t ever be Paul or maybe even Williams, but he has established himself as one of the upper-echelon young floor leaders in the game.
Sure, he has his faults (he still can’t consistently make perimeter jumpers). However, he’s the ideal fit on this Celtics team, one with three bona-fide stars.
Without Rondo, there’s no way that the C’s would have gotten out of the first round of the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls.
Ainge has never been afraid to wheel and deal -- and that hasn’t changed.
But the problem is that he doesn’t have a whole lot to sell these days. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are nearly untouchable while Ray Allen has one more year left on his deal at nearly $20 million.
Kendrick Perkins’ value won’t climb any higher, but the problem becomes what you do in the middle without Perk. There’s a reason why Perkins is considered a serviceable big man in the league.
There just aren’t many big guys who can play these days.
The carrots that Ainge will attempt to dangle will be the expiring contracts of guys like Brian Scalabrine ($3.4 million), Tony Allen ($2.5 million) and possibly Eddie House ($2.8 million) -- if House elects to utilize his player-option for this coming season.
That’s not all that enticing to opposing GM’s.
The more likely scenario has the Celtics trying to re-sign Glen “Big Baby” Davis and pick up a free agent or two that can help off the bench.
Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo and Perkins will match-up with any starting unit in the league and Davis has now become a quality big man off the bench. The key will be to add one more frontcourt player and also a backup point guard.
“We like our team,” Ainge told me over the weekend. “We just need to make a tweak here and there, but we don’t need to make wholesale changes.”
There are plenty of guys out there that can help fill a role on a championship team -- and that’s really all this team is lacking.
They won’t have the money to be able to add a Hedo Turkoglu or a Ron Artest, but could Ainge make a run at a Drew Gooden, Chris Wilcox, Rasheed Wallace or someone that could actually help Perkins down low.
They also need someone to fill Stephon Marbury’s role as a competent backup floor leader when Rondo isn’t on the floor.
The bottom line is that there’s no need to panic. If Garnett had been healthy, the world wouldn’t be putting Kobe in the same breathe as M.J.
He’d a two-time runner-up.
Rondo has been the starting point guard on a team that has won 128 games over the past two seasons. He’s played in four Game 7’s and 40 playoff games -- and he’s only 23 years old.
I love Steve Nash as much as anyone else, but he’s not the same player he was when he won a pair of NBA MVP awards.
He’s a dozen years older than Rondo -- and a valid argument can be made that Rondo is the more effective player right now, anyway.
Just sit tight, Danny. Don’t mortgage a piece of the future.
Not on this draft. It’s not worth it.
10 FREE AGENTS THAT SHOULD BE ON BOSTON’S RADAR
Drew Gooden, San Antonio: His facial hair may be annoying, but he nearly averaged a double-double this past season.
Chris Wilcox, New York: A solid backup big man who averaged 7.2 points and 5.3 boards this past season.
Rasheed Wallace, Detroit: He’d be ideal as a guy coming off the bench.
Martin Gortat, Orlando: He and Perk would form a potent duo in the paint.
Anderson Varejao, Cleveland: Boston fans would like him if he were wearing green.
Linas Kleiza, Denver: Another guy who could strengthen the bench with his ability to score.
Chris Anderson, Denver: The Birdman would bring energy and an active body up front.
Raymond Felton, Charlotte: I’ve got to assume a young point guard like Felton wouldn’t want to come to Boston for a reserve role.
Antonio McDyess, Detroit: He chose the Pistons a year ago, so it’s doubtful
Jason Kidd, Dallas: Would he come to Boston for a big-time discount to win a title?
Jeff Goodman is a senior basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at goodmanonfox@aol.com.
In the latest edition of the "It Is What It Is" podcast, Chris Price and CSNNE's Mike Giardi take a look at the Patriots offseason on both sides of the ball, try and get a handle on which new guys will make an impact first, and whether or not the Patriots have altered their style when it comes to drafting and developing wide receivers.
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One of the hardest working men in the biz, Mike Petraglia aka "Trags", sits down with Butch Stearns live in Foxborough to help break down all the latest Pats moves. He discusses his reaction to the trade in Round 1 and the guys those picks produced. Also, the boys talk about the decent trade the Pats made in acquiring LeGarrette Blount from Tampa Bay for Jeff Demps and a 7th rounder.
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Jackie Mac joins the show to discuss the trade rumors swirling around Paul Pierce, KG, Doc Rivers and the Celtics. She also discusses the future of the Celtics head coach.
Stephen A. joined the program to discuss the trade rumors he has reported regarding a possible trade including Doc Rivers and the Clippers. Stephen A. also told the guys that he has heard that Danny and Doc may be tiring of working together.
Terry Francona joins the Dennis and Callahan Show to discuss his first-place Indians team as well as his time in Boston. The former Boston manager also touches on his recent book co-authored by Dan Shaughnessy and Shaughnessy's recent dust-up with David Ortiz.
Joe Castiglione talked with John Lackey after he picked up the W against the Twins. Lackey threw seven innings, and retired the 1st twelve batters of the game.
Dave O'Brien talked to John Farrell before the end of the Twins series. The Sox skipper said that Big Papi's success is no surprise given his work ethic.
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Cleveland Indians hottest team in baseball, yet remain last in attendance May 19, 2013 By AJ Kaufman 6 Comments There’s a scene in Major League where Bob Uecker, portraying the radio voice of the Indians, bemoans, “In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven’t, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.” Well, that was nearly 25 years ago and fictional, but today’s reality is that Cleveland has won 17 of its last 21, and currently tops the AL Central with a mark of 25-17. No one in the majors is better than the Indians in the past month (20-7). That’s great news. The bad news, however, is the Tribe somehow remain in the MLB cellar when it comes to attendance. How can this be? The fact that I wrote on this same topic almost to the day last year – when only Tampa Bay drew fewer fans than Cleveland - may be even more troubling. Though roughly 34,000 watched a walk-off win Friday night against Seattle, perfect weather and free caps weren’t enough to draw more than 36,000 Saturday and Sunday combined. What did the Indians do in those tilts? They nabbed another walk-off win on Saturday, then the Indians crushed the great Felix Hernandez Sunday behind Justin Masterson, arguably the AL’s best pitcher right now. Fun fact: The Indians have already faced eight Cy Young Award winners in 2013: Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, David Price, Justin Verlander and Hernandez. They have won seven out those eight matchups. Simply astounding. This offseason, the much-maligned Indians front office finally made a legitimate attempt to improve the team through free agency. I’m not talking an Ubaldo Jimenez-like trade, but rather smart acquisitions that brought veterans Mike Aviles, Michael Bourn, Jason Giambi, Scott Kazmir, Brett Myers, Mark Reynolds, Drew Stubbs and Nick Swisher to Cleveland. In addition to being a fantastic place to watch a game due to great egress and ingress, with extremely affordable tickets, the best promo lineup anywhere, Jacobs Field boasts overall, cooler, less muggy summer weather than most Midwestern locales. The team also lowered beer and hot dog prices to $4 and $3 respectively. What other professional stadium in any sport offers that? I have visited 28 of the 30 current Major League Baseball stadia, and few top The Jake when all angles are considered. I say that as a baseball fan, not an Indians fan. As for the putative “economic” angle, these are the same people who spend insane amounts of money to watch terrible football every fall and show up in decent numbers for putrid basketball in the winter. Irrespective of season length, those sports charge up to 10 times the price for a ticket, and the atmosphere isn’t half as fan-friendly as baseball. I understand fans’ lack of willingness to get on board to some degree. A decent recap of Cleveland’s decade of “rebuilding” can be read here and the team suffered a horrific collapse last August. However, in addition to all the benefits of attending games at Jacobs (now Progressive) Field, fans should also realize the team has potential and often exceeds preseason aspirations at any point without warning. Cleveland hosts the rival Detroit Tigers — heavy favorites to repeat as AL Central champs — Tuesday and Wednesday nights before hitting the road. The temperature should be pleasant at first pitch each evening so you’d expect The Jake to be full to watch the best hitter on the planet right now — but don’t count on it.
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Terry Francona joins the Dennis and Callahan Show to discuss his first-place Indians team as well as his time in Boston. The former Boston manager also touches on his recent book co-authored by Dan Shaughnessy and Shaughnessy's recent dust-up with David Ortiz.
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Our afternoon host Mike Salk was offended at Gerry and Kirk's conversation on his favorite band Rush, the guys responded.
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The Bruins look to take a 3-0 series lead, Jon Lester gets his first loss, Dwight Howard has options in free agency.
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