Now that the Boston Celtics officially have the sixth-overall pick in June’s 2014 NBA Draft, the rumors are really ramping up.
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The Celtics reportedly could do several different things. They will obviously try to pry power forward Kevin Love away from the Minnesota Timberwolves, could look to package their assets to move up in the draft or could look to trade some of their current players in an attempt to rebuild.
Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders takes a look at the value of Rondo in terms of this draft.
"Yeah, he’s worth a top-ten pick and quite a bit more. The Lakers, for example, would happily move the #7 (which they don’t want) for a point guard like that to sidle up alongside Kobe Bryant, but 1.) Boston’s not trading Rondo to L.A. Ever. and 2.) The #7 pick is not valuable enough to net you Rajon Rondo. We’re talking Marcus Smart/Aaron Gordon/Noah Vonleh range. Nowhere near good enough for Rondo. If you can’t get a top three pick for this in this draft, I’m not making the deal."
Rondo likely isn’t going anywhere. Not only because teams probably won’t meet the Celtics’ demands, but because the team still values his play.
Rondo averaged 11.7 points, 9.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 30 games for the Celtics last season.