Will the Boston Celtics trade Rajon Rondo?

Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose have been previewing each team with video segments and today the published the Celtics one. Humor is subjective, so I guess some people must have enjoyed this but it didn't do much for me. I can save you 12 minutes by telling you that the only substance was that both Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose believe that the Celtics "have to" trade Rajon Rondo and bottom out.

That's cute and all, but I respectfully disagree for all the reasons that I've gone over several times over. A) We don't need to trade him to be a lottery team. B) Trading him only helps our chances of winning the lottery by a very very small percentage points. C) If you don't want to be bad for a loooong time, then it would help to have a star in place already. D) We won't get anywhere close full value for him.

If Ainge were approached by a GM with an offer that he couldn't refuse, that's another thing. But I don't want the standard "package of assets" for our last star player just so we can go through a slow rebuild that lasts several years.

For his part, Rondo has been very positive about staying in Boston.

Left behind in Celtics' breakup, Rondo looks to a future on his own - CBSSports.com

Whatever happens, let the record show that Rondo -- unlike some of his All-Star peers if placed in the same predicament -- isn't looking for an escape route of his own. "This is my team; why would I want to leave?" Rondo said. "Why would I want out? I've ever really backed away from a challenge." No, backing down or backing away is not Rondo's style.

What I do agree with is Zach Lowe's take. He points out (as many of us have all summer) that there are other movable guys that we could get something in return for.

Ranking the NBA's tiers of power before the 2013-14 season - Grantland

It's going to be ugly, and if the Celtics do somehow find themselves in the race for no. 8 at midseason, they'll happily trade themselves out of it if they can find any useful assets for Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries, and others. A Rondo trade is the sexier angle — and not implausible — but a trade involving one of those names is much more likely; dealing Lee or Bass would allow Boston to get serious cap room in July.

That's a lot easier to stomach for me. Bass or Lee or even Humphries could be very valuable to a contender this Spring and could net us a few more future chips in February. Hopefully Ainge will be able to cash in some of those chips next Summer so this rebuilding process can be kicked into high gear instead of getting caught in the tar pits.