The Boston Celtics may look at a Rajon Rondo trade this season and teams like the LA Lakers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and NY Knicks all could be interested in making a move with Danny Ainge and this comes after the team drafted Marcus Smart as their potential point guard of the future.
Rondo has been mentioned in trade rumors since last year and while the Celtics are not actively shopping him, they will listen to offers this season. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Celts and Rondo each want to start the season together and see how things progress before making a major move. Boston wants to see if Rondo can make it through the season healthy after dealing with an ACL injury, while Rondo wants that and also to see where the team is at in their rebuilding process.
Rondo is coming into the final year of his extension and one reason he may not end up getting traded is the fact that he wants to hit free agency eventually. Rondo could end up going the Kevin Love route and getting traded anyway, but right now it looks like he will not be signing an extension with another team even if he does get traded. Rondo is coming back after dealing with an ACL injury and he looked good last season while playing in 30 games and averaging about double figures in points and assists.
The Celtics are in a big rebuild, but they have plenty of young talent with Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk along with Avery Bradley and that could be a good enough core to get Rondo to stick around. Rondo reportedly has asked for a trade, but the Celtics have come out to deny that rumor and right now it looks like the two sides want to stick together to start the season. No matter what happens, Rondo will come up at the trade deadline and now that Kevin Love is with the Cavs, he will be the top target for teams.
The Houston Rockets have long been considered an option for Rondo, as Daryl Morey has given him high praise and now that Jeremy Lin is gone, the starting job could be his. The team would have to pull off a pretty big trade to do that so there is a good chance it doesn't happen, but the Rockets also surprised people with the James Harden Deal. The Pacers have also been mentioned in rumors as a possible option, but that was mostly before Paul George was injured. The Pacers could make a move to help soften that blow, but they likely will keep the core of the team together.
This summer the Kings and Celtics were the subject of rumors about a potential trade and both sides came out to refute that. The Kings have been mentioned since last season as an option to trade for Rondo, but so far no deal has been talked about between the two teams. Rondo is a star player and one of the best point guards in the league when healthy and now he has to decide for himself if Boston is where he wants to be long term.