The Boston Celtics will deal with Rajon Rondo trade rumors this summer and a team like the Houston Rockets could be in the mix with Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons and Omer Asik, while the Celtics themselves could be making moves around the draft, as Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Avery Bradley or Kris Humphries could be traded this summer.
The Celtics have been mentioned as an option in the Kevin Love deal because they have the draft picks to make it work, but Danny Ainge may not want to mortgage the future for Brad Stevens like that. The team picks just out of the top five this year and they reportedly are targeting Aaron Gordon and the Celtics love what he brings to the table and feel like he could be a great player. The team will not be able to get Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker, but they should be able to net an impact player.
The Rockets come into the offseason looking to make a big move and Rondo could be it, while the team also will pursue the Kevin Love deal. The Celtics have pieces to move and they also have to decide whether to sign Rondo long term and it looks like they want to do that as well.
The Celtics and every other team in the top 10 has been connected to trades involving their picks and Boston likely will not move the pick unless it's for Kevin Love or if Gordon is taken before the pick. The report says that the Celtics are enamored with his skills and size and that they feel the Arizona freshman could be a franchise player for GM Danny Ainge. The team is still looking to lock up Rajon Rondo with a long term deal and if they sit tight and draft Gordon, they would have put together a solid young crop of talent over the past two seasons.
The team has been mentioned as a wild card in the Kevin Love trade rumors and one reason they are in the mix with the Timberwolves is because of that number six pick. The Celtics will pick Gordon if he is there says Bill Simmons, as they see him as a Shawn Marion type, but they also could use that pick in a trade. Kevin Love visited Boston last week and the team has first round picks and enough young talent to make a deal, but it's not clear how hard the Celtics will try and pull off that trade. Boston comes into the offseason with Rondo at the center of their plans and Ainge feels that adding a top player like Gordon could help turn the team around and he will have to decide whether to attempt a trade for Love or if the team should sit tight at six.
Gordon is just 19 years old and that youth could be big for the Celtics and with players like Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins ahead of him, Gordon could slip out of the top five and into the Celtics hands. Chris Mannix at SI.com writes that the Celtics are looking at Gordon as their pick and if they don't go for a blockbuster trade, they likely will not deal the number six pick. Gordon is an athletic player and he could give the Celtics a prime option with Rondo and they come into the offseason after going just 25-57 under Brad Stevens and it could be a number of years before they are competing again.
The Rockets come into the offseason after losing in the playoffs and they are looking to make a big move to get another player alongside James Harden and Dwight Howard. The team has moves to make and now the Celtics are in the mix as well after Love visited the city this weekend. The team has a great PG in Rajon Rondo and a great head coach in Brad Stevens and they also have first round picks and young players to make a deal appealing. The team may not end up pulling off the deal, but with a high draft pick this season, the team is in the mix after losing 57 games in 2013-14.
