What active point guard in the NBA has averaged over eight assists per game six times in their career and has an NBA Championship to their name? What active point guard has averaged a double-double with assists and points three times in their career? What active point guard has averaged more than 11 assists per game three times in their career?
The answer to these questions is, Rajon Rondo.
Like it or not, Rondo is a legitimate top five point guard and next season the Boston Celtics are going to have to make a decision if they should trade him or keep him.
Here are two of the best places Rondo could play next year.
In New York
Alicia Keys sang it best describing New York — “Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Though Boston historically is one of the greatest basketball cities in the NBA, the New York Knicks are just as prestigious as the Celtics.
The fan base of the Knicks are truly one of a kind. They are unique not because they are loud and obnoxious (I am a Heat fan) but because they understand intelligent basketball plays as they occur.
Fans in Madison Square Garden are tough to please but it isn’t because they aren’t impressed with highlight plays.
Instead they love seeing athletes make plays that win games. Spectators will get out of their seats when players hustle and show that they really want to win more than fill up the stat sheet.
More often than most fans in the NBA, anytime the Knicks play we see fans get out of their seats and have ovations when players track down a loose ball and fall into the stands, or if a player dives on the floor for the basketball to call a timeout, or even when players make great entry passes that lead to dunks or quality shots.
These descriptions are what Rondo brings every time he steps on to the hardwood.
Rondo with the Knicks is a pairing that would benefit each party respectively. Since the departure of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Rondo is in a position where he has to win games virtually by himself.
The roster that surrounds Rondo in Boston is not enough to compete (more on that later) for a playoff spot but if Rondo joins New York everything changes.
What the Knicks have with their roster is a group of talented and hungry players who are all itching to get to the place that Rondo has already been, the NBA Finals. If Knicks president Phil Jackson can create a trade and bring Rondo to New York, they would by far have one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
How much fun would watching the pick and roll with Carmelo Anthony and Rondo be?
Anthony who plays the forward position for the Knicks, would devastate opponents having a point guard that could set him up for easy jumpers or find him cutting if he wanted to roll to the basket.
Also, it would take the unfairly given “selfish” label away from Anthony and allow him to score the basketball at will. A pass first point guard like Rondo would rack up assists with Anthony’s offensive ability.
In addition, one of the Knicks former All-Stars Amar’e Stoudemire would have a revival in his game playing with Rondo.
Stoudemire’s best times were when he was running pick and rolls all day with Steve Nash in Phoenix, but with Rondo it would be just as lethal.
Throw in the perimeter shooting that the Knicks have with J.R. Smith and it also ails his troubles with taking bad shots. The basketball is not going in his hands often with Rondo leading the point. Thus allowing Smith to do what he does best, spot up and shoot three pointers.
However if this does not go through there is one other place that Rondo could go to…
Back to Beantown
Some people need to realize what is standing right in front of their face.
The Boston Celtics have not needed to worry about the point guard position since 2006 when they traded for Rondo in the NBA draft.
The Celtics franchise took a gamble when they traded for Rondo in the draft, and that gamble came up huge. On a 2008 NBA championship team that featured future Hall of Fame players in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Rondo was their key to victory.
His intelligence and decision-making is one of the reasons why they won the NBA Finals in 2008. Rondo orchestrated the offense and routinely gave Allen, Pierce and Garnett easier shots than they had ever been accustomed to.
Since the 2008 year, Rondo has continued to grow and become a better player. The best place for him is the Boston Celtics. Look at some of his achievements playing for the franchise.
- NBA Champion (08)
- 4X NBA All Star (10,11,12,13)
- 4X All Defensive Team (09,10,11, 12)
- 2X Assist Champion (12, 13)
- Most assists in a single season with the Celtics (10)
Think of it for a second, what other point guards in the NBA are consistently bringing any franchise those numbers? Regardless of the talent surrounding him, Rondo led the league in assists multiple times and is a nuisance on defense.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is still attempting to put quality players around Rondo to win. Though Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green are great players, they are not franchise stars to build around. They are excellent role players who could help a team compete for a championship. Last season that nucleus left the Celtics with a horrid 25-57 record. They were also 26th in points per game, because of the lack of talent.
In the 2014 NBA draft, the Celtics addressed their talent needs and drafted the former Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart. Though it initially threw up a huge red flag that the Celtics were attempting to begin another rebuilding project and trade Rondo, it also gave some a sigh of relief.
If coach Brad Stevens can find a way to have both point guards co-exist similar to the Phoenix Suns point guards (Eric Bledsoe & Goran Dragic) they can have one of the best defensive backcourts in the NBA.
Smart is going to have a long career in the NBA and knows how to play the point guard position. In addition, the Celtics brought in Evan Turner (free agency) and James Young (through the draft).
The nucleus still isn’t good enough yet, but why not show patience to the only team that you have played for? Rondo’s time in Boston has been wonderful and the Celtics are one superstar away from being back into contention within the Eastern Conference. As long as they have Rondo leading point, it is one less problem they will have to worry about.
Where do you think Rondo should play next year?