ESPN Insider trade idea: Rondo for 6th pick and Vasquez

Yesterday Bradford Doolittle posted 3 trade ideas on ESPN Insider. In related news, I have a blog and I like to take people's ideas and pick them apart. In truth, I always try to give credit to people who actually put names out there and thoughtful scenarios that might possibly make sense for both teams. That said, I'm not a fan of this one - in part because I am a fan of Rondo and not much of a fan of this draft.

Impact NBA draft trade scenarios - ESPN

"The New Orleans Pelicans trade the No. 6 pick and Greivis Vasquez to the Boston Celtics for Rajon Rondo. If Danny Ainge is ready to hit the reset button in Boston, it's going to have to start with gathering young pieces while he gets his long-term payroll in order. Vasquez was one of the league's most improved players and offers a pretty fair amount of the same kind of production the Celtics have gotten from Rondo over the years. Plus, he's cheap and the lottery pick could be cashed in on a much-needed big man or shooting guard.

Where to start... First of all, I'm not ready to let go of Rondo for anything short of a star player in return. This does not qualify so it is somewhat of a non-starter. But I'll go on anyway.

Vasquez is a nice young player. I'm just not sure if his production translates to a non-lottery team so the argument that he "offers a pretty fair amount of the same kind of production the Celtics have gotten from Rondo over the years." is at best a stretch (yes, Greivis clearly outplayed Rondo ever since Rondo got hurt this year) and at worst a laughable statement. So assuming we're all in agreement that Vazquez is a big step down from Rondo, what is there to make up the difference in this trade? Oh right, the pick.

Draft Express has Alex Len going 6th in their mock draft. Maybe he'll be a decent big man down the road, but he didn't even play critical minutes on Maryland last year. He's a (high upside) project big man. Meanwhile, most of the guys we're looking at in the 16 range are project big men. Maybe Len will be better than them, but I'm not willing to sell out on Rondo for that kind of maybe. In addition, there's a very short list of guys that interest me more than Len and they are all projected to go in the top 5.

So, here's the only upside I can come up with in this trade scenario. Yay, we'd get lots of lottery balls because we'd stink reeeealllly good. None of this makes a lick of sense if KG and Pierce are still in town.

Long story short: Meh. I'll pass.

I think you folks can do better. So have at it in the comments and/or the Trade Ideas Forums.