Should the Hornets and Celtics Swap Rondo and CP3?

Last summer, after the Knicks landed Amar’e Stoudemire, rumors immediately began to spread about Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul joining him. Several months later in February, ‘Melo did in fact become a Knick. So it seemed like all that was left was for Chris Paul to join them. And, of course, that’s one of the rumors already. But the Rondo for Paul rumors yesterday put the “Paul to New York” talks on hold for a bit. If this is actually a legit rumor, I’m not sure it makes any sense for either side.

The Boston Celtics are still a very good team and are one of the elite squads in the Association. But their window is closing. Quickly. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that this is their last run. For the last couple of years, Rondo has been thought to be the next guy to carry the team once the Big 3 retire or get too old to contribute. So more than anything, this news is shocking.

It’s no secret that Chris Paul is a better player than Rondo, but Paul wouldn’t enhance their chances of winning a ring this year or beyond. Rondo is the perfect floor general for this team and they already have a ring together because they’ve developed that chemistry years ago. With Paul they’d have to start over chemistry-wise. By the time they begin to click on all cylinders, the Big 3 will be too old for Boston to be considered contenders. Then, before you know it, they’ll be in rebuilding mode will Chris Paul as your only piece.

As for New Orleans, for a while I’ve been convinced that if Rondo played anywhere other than Boston, we’d barely remember his name, let alone know how to properly pronounce it (it’s pronounced “Rah-Jon” not “Ray-Jon”, by the way). Don’t get me wrong, I like Rondo’s game and you cannot question his heart or toughness but I think it’s without question that he has been helped by the fact that he plays for the Cs. It was the perfect situation for him. He was immediately surrounded by legitimate scorers and wasn’t asked to try to drop buckets. Him being on the Celtics hid his offensive limitations. He is a terrible shooter, but an excellent floor general with exceptional court-vision. In fact, he does everything else so well, that six years later, his defenders will not let go of the “As soon as Rondo learns how to shoot, he’ll be…” argument. Unfortunately, it’s time to let go of that hope. He is what he is.

The Hornets don’t have the scorers that Boston does, so Rondo won’t flourish nearly as much. He may be asked to score more and he’s not at his best when he’s thinking “shoot first.” And as I mentioned previously, Paul may need time to gel with those other three and time is running out on them. Therefore, I’m not sure the deal makes either team better.

But of course, there are reasons to make trades aside from immediately improving a team. I am convinced that Paul will leave New Orleans next summer and the Hornets may want to get something for him while they can. Conversely, Boston may be afraid that Rondo’s value won’t be as great without the Big 3 and they should get what they can for him now since those guys are getting older. In that sense, the deal makes sense. But if we’re talking solely about personnel and improving each team, I’m not sure it does that.