Celtics Seeking Two 1st-Round Picks in Rondo Trade

Every year, around this time, with the NBA’s trade deadline swiftly approaching, all hell breaks loose. Rumors start being churned out at an alarming rate and this side of the collective bargaining agreement, typically die before they even really start.

As with all things, tread with caution, kind of like you’re preparing to play Marco-Polo in shark-infested waters, which, for the record, I do not recommend. All I’m saying is watch yourself and protect your six (o’clock) (it means look out behind you, okay?). Clickbait is out there. More importantly, absolute crap is out there. Unless “reports” are coming from reputable writers and platforms, don’t trust it.

Just as importantly, don’t fall for certain news aggregates looking for clickbait of their own. Here at The Hoop Doctors, we don’t entertain unsubstantiated nonsense. Reports we tackle are legitimate ones, originating from those you can trust. So, you know, trust us too. And when you’re out there on your own, in this sick, twisted world we call the days before the trade deadline, watch your dang six. Consider this your trade-deadline primer.

So why are we here again? Oh, right—Rajon Rondo.

According to Bulls.com’s Sam Smith–who is one of those respectable sources we just discussed—Rondo can be pried away from Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge for a deal built around two unprotected first-round draft picks.

“The asking price if you can get Rondo is said to be two unprotected first rounders,” he writes. If that’s not enough for you, Grantland’s Zach Lowe corroborates Boston’s asking price.

What Lowe and Smith are basically saying (though not really) is Rondo isn’t going to be moved. That’s what Boston’s asking prices implies anyway.

There are only a handful of teams that would give up two unprotected first-rounders for Rondo, all of which don’t have two first-rounders to offer, because if they’re that cavalier with their draft picks, they probably traded them already.

*Looks toward James Dolan’s New York Knicks*

Not for a minute do I believe the Celtics are fully intent on building around Rondo. Going on 28, he’s approaching that awkward age where he’s in his prime, but could be approaching the tail end of his stardom by the time Boston is ready to contend again.

Come 2015 free agency, Rondo is gone, if not before then. That’s my personal belief. You don’t have to share it, but I’m putting it out there. It just doesn’t make sense for the Celtics to build around him. It’s too risky and after next season, too expensive.

But don’t expect Rondo to be dealt by the Feb. 20 deadline. Part of me is hoping he gets traded, if only because of how bad and boring and unbelievably torturous last season’s trade deadline was. Like, it was bad. Really bad. J.J. Redick was the biggest name moved, and he was sent from the Orlando Magic to Milwaukee Bucks, which is hardly groundbreaking stuff.

As much as we hope to be in store for an active deadline, though, excitement will have to originate from somewhere other than Boston, or at the very least from another player other than Rondo. The asking price for him is ridiculous right now. While he’s playing well, he’s still working his way back from injury. Bringing him in at retail price would be a gargantuan-sized risk only the Knicks would be willing to take.

Since the Knicks don’t have two first-rounders to trade, we’ll likely stay here, trapped somewhere between incessant Rondo rumors and the reality that he most likely isn’t going anywhere this season.