The Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo have been mentioned in trade rumors for a couple years and now that he is heading into free agency, more rumors will come up and teams like the LA Lakers, Houston Rockets, NY Knicks, Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings all could be interested in making a move, while Danny Ainge has expressed his interest in keeping the point guard despite drafting Marcus Smart this year in the first round
Rondo has been brought up in trade talk for a while and although the Celtics may go down that road, the team also is open to keeping Rondo on a long term deal. Rondo broke his hand this offseason in an accident at home and that could keep him out for over a month, which would give the Celtics a chance to see what Marcus Smart can do. But according to Pro Basketball Talk, Rondo feels that he has the chance to come back by the opener, which comes at the end of October.
Rondo and the Celtics come into the season with numerous questions about their future together and even if Rondo comes up in trade rumors at the deadline, there's no guarantee a deal will get done. Rondo likely wants to get to free agency and that means not signing an extension with the Celtics or another team this season. If Rondo goes that way, he could be harder to trade. The Celtics also want to see if Rondo can get through the year healthy on his repaired ACL and he also has to have his hand heal up.
The team got a steal in Smart in the draft, as he was a top three player last year before deciding to come back and with Andrew Wiggins and company at the top, it pushed Smart to the Celtics. Smart could get his chance to prove himself with Rondo out with a broken hand, but obviously if Rondo returns this situation will be a bit different. Danny Ainge has said multiple times that having Smart doesn't mean that Rondo will get traded, but if he plays very well this year, it could change things for the Celtics. The Celtics owner has said he wants to keep Rondo long term and the two sides could get a framework together ahead of free agency.
Rondo is one of the best point guards in the league and he comes back after playing in 30 games last season for the Celtics following his injury. Rondo looked good in those games and now the Celtics want to see if he can hold up for the season. The team is in a hard rebuild and while they want to keep him, they also realize that the best move could be to trade him or let him go.
The Lakers and the Knicks will have money to spend, while the Rockets and Pacers also could be interested. This summer the Kings and the Celtics were mentioned in trade rumors regarding Rondo, but both sides downplayed that any talks were going on. The Rockets have long been interested in Rondo and now that Jeremy Lin is gone they could look at bringing him in.
