The Boston Celtics had been hanging around in the eastern conference this season despite trades for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce away from the city to Brooklyn and with Rajon Rondo setting a target to come back later in the month, trade rumors likely will pop up again and some interested teams could be the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.
The Celtics have settled back into fourth place in the division behind the Knicks with just 13 wins on the season after getting off to a solid start and taking the atlantic division lead for a while and now they are looking to get Rondo back. According to ESPN.com, Rondo is shooting for a return to the court after dealing with knee surgery last year and after many expected that he would return after the All-Star break, the point guard may be back on the court sooner than that. The Raptors are currently leading the division with Brooklyn, New York, Boston and Philadelphia behind and since the Celtics are rebuilding, which is one reason why many feel that Rondo could get traded.
Rondo and the team has not set a specific date or timetable for his return to the lineup and Brad Stevens has not set any limit on how many minutes Rondo will play when he returns. The Celtics are in a big rebuild and while Stevens and the front office have said they are not trading the point guard, once it gets closer to the deadline in February, things likely will heat up and a number of teams could be interested in trading for him. The Knicks have been mentioned as a team that could go after Rondo and the Kings were also connected to him during the offseason, but after the moves for Rudy Gay and Derrick Williams they may not want to give up more players and picks for him.
The Celtics started off well but coming into their next game they have lost the last six games and nine of the last 10 and amazingly enough, in the eastern conference that means they are just a game and a half behind a playoff spot. Rondo is one of the best point guards in the league and it will be interesting to see how he looks when he comes and what the team decides to do.