Source tells me Rondo’s trip to Las Vegas is to begin next phase of rehab at Impact Basketball Academy
— John Karalis (@RedsArmy_John) May 6, 2013
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
When Rondo was spotted in Vegas a couple of nights ago as the Celtics were languishing through most of Game 6, there was a little buzz around the internet about why he’d turn his back on his struggling teammates to fly off to party town. When he was seen ring-side for the Floyd Mayweather fight, there were some pretty hateful things said about him.
But a source tells me Rondo is, in fact, in town to begin the next phase of his rehab at the famed Impact Basketball Academy. Impact is frequented by so many NBA stars over the summer, that they were actually able to get a league going during the lockout where many NBA players were able to get some run.
Rondo’s rehab is important, because as these playoffs showed, this team needs him. Desperately. That was so obvious, even the loudest of the loudmouths who proclaimed the team was better without Rondo had to admit “I was obviously wrong about it” (2:40 mark of the video)
Yeah, Felger had to come out and admit he was wrong.
As for the rest of that video (if you didn’t watch the whole thing)… the discussion now is turning to (drum roll please)…. blowing up the team. And this is the beginning of the slow turn from “you gotta trade Rondo because he’s killing us” to “you gotta trade Rondo because he makes us too good to get a lottery pick.”
The video starts with Max declaring that he thinks Pierce, KG, and Doc are all gone next year…. which seems to be his guess at this point. From there, the debate switches to how keeping Rondo and Green still isn’t good enough because the Celtics would still be a 7th or 8th seed.
Get ready for a lot of silly arguments like this. A summer full of them, in fact. And while the Celtics fate next year rests on what happens with Pierce, and then Garnett and Doc Rivers after that decision is made, any rebuilding process should include Rondo, Green, and the other young assets the Celtics have.
In this new collective bargaining agreement landscape, with an emphasis on avoiding taxes, a player of Rondo’s caliber making under $12 million next season is a HUGE help. Green is locked up at $9 million for next year, and Bradley and Sullinger are still on rookie contracts.
That’s your nucleus right there. We can debate how Garnett and Pierce fit in there, but that’s a nice little nucleus that doesn’t require tanking for the lottery. Those are all guys at, or entering, their primes.
One last note about the “you gotta get into the lottery” argument…. how has that worked for the Bobcats, or the Hornets, or all these other teams that have been lottery mainstays? It’s tough to build through the lottery. It takes more than that. The Celtics don’t have to do all that.
It starts with Rondo getting his knee back to 100%, which he’s in the process of doing right now.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Positive-Lee motivated | Start to finish, not as planned | Globe: Why my MVP vote went to Carmelo Anthony | ESPN Boston: Roster reset: Salaries in focus | KG gets an MVP vote | Redemption road
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