Okay, so I am a huge Rondo shill and always have been because I just see unlimited potential and always have. But let's see if I, one of the bigger Rondo fans that sees everything through Green colored glasses when it comes to Rondo, can look at things objectively.

Rondo's assets:

• The man is in unreal physical condition and obviously, from looking at him, takes pride in this. To me, that is huge. Having a basketball player that is also an athlete and keeps themselves in peak physical condition is a plus in my book.
• Could he have a better body type for someone who is going to handle the ball for you on offense? Long arms, huge hands. Great elevation on the jump. Fast and quick.
• He might be one of the fastest people on the planet while dribbling a basketball. He is an possession of a great first step and explosive speed and when he gets into the open floor is a jet.
• His ball handling skills are exceptional though his cross over move leaves something to be desired
• His passing skills are great and he is not in love with just passing the ball through the air. He is one of the better bounce passers, for a PG, in the league
• He has all the skills to be a great defender, which is different than saying he is a great defender.
• He is fearless going to the basket, almost to a fault.
• Simply put, he is one of the best rebounding guards in the league and has enhanced numbers here because Doc Rivers, at least during the playoffs, utilized him in the defensive sets to back off his men and wander around the free throw line. He would then use his speed and jumping ability to make a fast move to get defensive rebounds and start fast breaks.
• He has a confidence and take charge personality that will eventually translate into being a great floor general.
• He plays better the better the competition. Against the best PGs in the league, he is seldom outplayed.

Now his liabilities:

• The shot is awful. His release point is all over the place and he is constantly putting way too much left hand into the shot as evidenced by just how far off the shot can be left to right. Practice and good coaching can change this but it will take a while and this alone will keep him from being a top three PG in this league. When he can consistently hit 42% or more of his jump shots and hit 75% or more of his FTs, then we can think about putting him in the Deron, Paul, and eventually, Rose category.
• As stated above, he plays to the level of his competition. He should dominate lesser PGs and yet doesn't. He needs to bring the consistency every game, every minute.
• The above problem goes to a lack of mental preparation and readiness that I hate. He is, however, just 23 years old and this can be chalked up to a lack of maturity but I hope and pray it is not an inherent flaw in his personality.
• The above also needs to call into question his confidence which, could also be a personality flaw of hubris and arrogance. Many times these things can lead to a lack of motivation and a lack of needing to improve and practice and to take things as seriously as they need be taken. It can also lead to an inability to get along with others and to take orders and criticism, whether it be constructive or not. This, unfortunately, does appear to be a character flaw of his. Let's hope he can look in the mirror and change this. Often adversity can change this in a person. All too often, people like this never change and never reach their full potential. It can, once again, be chalked up to immaturity, but in this case, I don't think it is.
• He is weak on his left hand when going to the basket. He often correctly figures that going to the left side of the basket is the correct move but too often, well, almost always, relies on a right hand lay in with spin rather than a left hand lay in. This, though not a major problem, should be worked on.
• He still, way too often for my taste, leaves his feet not knowing what he is going to do with the ball.
• His confidence in his abilities often leads to his forcing way too many passes that just are not there. What is terrible about this flaw in his game is that his confidence is often soaring when the team is up and these forces come at a time when simpler plays would lead to points. This often causes turnovers and allowing teams back into games. This is a bigger problem than I think a lot of people think.
• His defensive intensity and his consistency in bringing it sucks. As I said above, he has all the skills to be a great defender, but this year, all too often was a huge liability on defense in the half court set. I want to stipulate the half court set because I think his pressure during full court presses, his defense on in bounds passes, his defense on half court traps, and his pressuring of the ball up the floor are great. But most defense is played in the half court and his defense fighting through the pick and roll and his lack of concentration on his assignment and more on other issues(playing passing lanes, trying to help down, looking to rebound a possible shot) lead him astray and allows his men to take advantage of him. His gambling on knock aways and lack of effort in keeping men in front of him and reliance on the big man help is simply atrocious.
• He lacks a professionalism that comes with either maturity or character. I don't know which he is lacking. But consistency, reliability, tardiness, and keeping one's head in pressure situations are a part of this. I say he grows into being a great professional but right now it is hurting him and his game.
• He allows his emotions to get the best of him and appears to have trouble controlling his temper. Don't get me wrong he isn't an emotional basket case ala Big Baby. He just has a problem with certain emotions like anger and frustration. Again, I hope it is maturity but it could be a character flaw.
• He leaves his feet going to the basket way too far from the basket and it forces him to take that God awful floater that he just can't hit consistently. It is a much tougher shot than it looks, especially when taking it at the speeds he is often taking it. I think he should either spend an entire summer working on just this shot or take it out of his game completely. Working on pulling up off the dribble and shooting from within 15 feet would probably be a more reliable weapon as he can get to where he wants and often has the ability to out jump his competition.

I hope I covered everything and speculated on as little as possible. I am not going to speculate on such things as why he ate what when he did or why he showed up a half hour late or why he fought with a certain coach or player. I observed and made my determinations based on what I saw in his game.

I think it is irresponsible for any of us to speculate as to what Danny's, KG's, Doc's, or anyone else's feelings are on him, especially from just a one or two sentence quote from a coach or player or manager that might be about a certain subject and not specifically on their total evaluation of Rondo. Too often that type of stuff is more about the moment and not about the person as a whole.

All that given, the fact that we basically have him in our control at a controlled price for the next year or two is huge as, for what he is going to be making in that time, he is a bargain. The tricky part comes in determining whether his non basketball issues that impact his game are maturity problems or character flaws. If maturity, we should see a bunch of that disappear this year as he will be 24 and into his 4th year in the league. The fourth year is often the year that stars will blossom in. So, we will see.

If it appears that Rondo's issues aren't a maturity issue then Danny is going to have a problem deciding whether, in a Manny Ramirez type situation, his contributions outweigh his attitudinal problems and whether he will be worth the big investment. If they are, then next year would seem like a great time to move him. Moving him sooner without having these questions answered while still having him under contractual control for light money, is just dumb.

People can say he shouldn't be untouchable but to have him in control at minor money and not be 100% certain as to where his game is going to go over the next year or two is just stupid. For this off season at least, he should not even be thought about being traded. It is way too big a risk to possibly trade away one of the future best PGs in the league when you have them playing for just $2 million for the next year and maybe $3 million the year after that while not being 10000% sure that his liabilities can't be corrected.