Former CSNNE analyst and current NBC Sports analyst Donny Marshall has set Celtics Nation on fire with his Rajon Rondo trade rumor. (Transcript courtesy CBS Boston)
Marshall didn’t elaborate on the specifics and timing of the potential deal, but he did express great confidence that it is something that will get done.
“I’m just going to tell you, and I don’t like the word ‘sources,’ but from the people that I talk to, there is a huge deal in the mix,” Marshall said. “[Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny Ainge will say, ‘No, no, no.’ [The trade is ] for not just Rondo, but other players on this team, to a team out West, the Sacramento Kings.
“[Rondo] is likely a goner. The folks that I talk to, it’s pretty much a done deal — at some point.”
Call me crazy, but I’m suspect of any rumored mega-deal that does not include names. Claiming that Rondo and “players” will be traded to Sacramento for “players” is weak.
CSNNE’s Gary Tanguay added fuel to this mess during Uno Sports Tonight when he dropped some names: Isaiah Thomas and Ben McLemore. Tanguay added the Kings would throw in 2 1st round picks.
We may have names, but they are not enough to make a deal work. Sacramento is about $8 million short in salary in Tanguay’s scenario. If you want to play along, adding (another) guard Marcus Thornton’s $8.5 million dollar salary to the mix makes the deal work.
Sherrod Blakely, Tanguay’s colleague, shot down this report:
“You know how it gets this time of year,” a league source told CSNNE.com. “People come up with this stuff, you guys write about it, tweet about it, whatever . . . It’s sad. There’s nothing happening on that front.”
“Danny Ainge is going to do his job, which involves listening to and talking to other teams about players, not just Rondo,” Rondo’s agent Bill Duffy told CSNNE.com. “But they have made it clear to us that they have no intention of trading Rondo. So I will leave it at that.”
Sam Amick, former Kings reporter and current basketball writer for USA Today, added this:
FYI re: Rajon Rondo rumor, Celtics & Kings have had no talks about him or any other player, I’m told by both sides. Nothing to see here…
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) December 17, 2013
A couple of things to keep in mind:
Donny Marshall doesn’t like Rajon Rondo. He’s been reporting about “issues” with this kid for years. It’s possible there is an agenda because Marshall is buddies with Rondo nemesis Ray Allen.
I respect Gary Tanguay, but the next trade he breaks will be his first.
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