Would Danny Ainge trade Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo?

This team is broken. Something has to be done to fix it. The best option is to fix from within but that hasn't worked so far. We can make a trade that sacrifices some pieces of our future (Bradley/Sullinger/Melo?) for immediate gains but will that be enough and will it be worth the cost?

People keep saying that we still have hope and they point to last year as being an example of what can happen. Here's the thing with that. Last year Danny Ainge was ready, willing, and almost able to trade away both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen at the deadline. All it would have taken is a few things to go slightly differently than it did and we're talking a whole different ballgame today.

So fast forward to today and tell me with a straight face that Danny Ainge would never consider trading Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo (who has been shopped more often than a used car). You can't do it.

You could make the argument that we are worse off this year than we were a year ago. Not only is the team struggling, but we don't have the financial flexibility coming up this summer that we did last year. We are now in deep with this group for the next 2.5 years unless some trades are made.

Rondo obviously has trade value and while the price would be high, I don't think you can call him untouchable. Pierce is on the downswing but still capable of taking over a game and might be seen as a great final piece to a team seeking a Championship run.

Trading either guy would likely set Kevin Garnett off like a rocket and might even prompt him to retire or demand a trade as well. Hard to tell exactly how he'd react. He's extremely loyal, but who would he be loyal to in this case? Doc and Danny or his departed teammates (Ray chose to leave, he wasn't traded - big difference in KG's world). Garnett himself has a no-trade clause (I believe) so he'd have to waive that to be considered available. So he wouldn't be the first domino, but he could be the last one if things fall apart at his feet.

So there's a very real chance that trading Pierce and/or Rondo (especially depending on what kind of package was received) would detonate the entire team down to scratch and lottery land for multiple years to come.

Of course this doesn't mean that it is likely that Ainge will ship out either guy, or that it is the right decision. I'm firmly against it and there are few scenarios that I can think of where it would actually happen. I'm just saying "never say never."