Yahoo’s Adian Wojnarowski just reported that the Pacers are in talks with the Celtics to potentially land their superstar guard Rajon Rondo (check out the report here). It’s really part of Boston’s grand plan to land Chris Paul (although reports suggest Paul wouldn’t re-sign with the Celtics), and since New Orleans would prefer to rebuild if they lose Paul rather than sign Rondon, they needed a third party for the deal to work.
Enter the Pacers, who already have Darren Collison, AJ Price, Lance Stephenson (well…) and the newly signed George Hill. It doesn’t make much sense to me that they would want someone like Rondo, who is reportedly a difficult guy to work with and arguably only excelled because he had Boston’s ‘Big Three’ to pass to and they had the authority to keep him in check. Throw him in Indiana with a young coach in Frank Vogel and guys who aren’t on the same level as those three future Hall of Famers and there’s no telling how he might react. Plus he badly dislocated his elbow in last season’s playoffs against Miami, and there’s still a little question mark over that.
On the other hand, remember when people were saying Rondo was the ‘Big One’ in Boston and that he was better than the ‘Big Three’? Remember at the start of last season when he was blitzing the NBA and dishing out dimes like he was Magic Johnson? What if it’s that Rondo that arrives in Indiana, and he learns to shoot? In my humble opinion he is still not one of the PGs at the very top — I’d rank Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Russell Westbrook and Steve Nash above him — but he’s still an undoubted upgrade on any guard on the Pacers at the moment.
My inclination is for the Pacers to shoot down this offer. They don’t need Rondo and it would take way too much to get him.
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