The Boston Celtics still could trade Rajon Rondo at some point this season and Danny Ainge also has a number of players that could be targets for teams, including Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass, Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley as well as Rondo himself after the Celtics drafted guard Marcus Smart in the first round of the draft this year and that leaves Ainge with some major questions for this season.
Rondo comes into things heading into free agency soon and that is one reason why everyone thinks the Celtics will trade him at some point. According to Marc Stein at ESPN.com, the Rockets are one team that's interested in making a deal, as Daryl Morey has long coveted Rondo and would like to make a Big 3 with Dwight Howard and James Harden. The Kings and the Detroit Pistons have been tied to Rondo in the past, but those deals are less likely.
The Celtics likely aren't making drastic moves with Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Bass and Avery Bradley, but Bass and Green should be main targets this season at points for teams. The Celtics love hoarding draft picks right now and after taking Marcus Smart and James Young this year, the team could try and pull that off again.
Rondo will be mentioned in trade rumors until he signs a deal or is traded and Ainge has a major choice to make regarding his future and the team's this season. Rondo is the last player stretching back to those championship days and moving him is like moving on from that era, although the team has clearly done that already after trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Brad Stevens loves having Rondo and the point guard likely wants to remain in Boston for when the good times are rolling again.
The biggest issue for Rondo is how long that will take and while he already has a championship, he may want to play for a winning team again at some point and that could lead to a trade. Many felt that the draft pick of Marcus Smart meant that the Celtics would think about trading Rondo eventually, but Danny Ainge dismissed that talk. Ainge has said that the versatile Smart and Rondo can play together and that Smart can take over when Rondo is on the bench as well.
The Celtics made some moves this offseason and added back Avery Bradley on a deal and also signed Evan Turner and that could be a solid move for the team. Turner is a low risk player after being the number two overall pick for Philly and he now could be flipped if he performs well, which is what the team did last season with Jordan Crawford. Last year Turner averaged 11.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Pacers and Sixers and now he is with the Celtics.
Last season the team ranked 13th in points allowed per game but they were just 26th in scoring and Brad Stevens said he wants to work on getting that closer this year. Having Rondo for a full season will help things as long as he is not moved and he was solid after coming back from his injury, averaging 10 points and nine assists per game.