So what did we get for Rajon Rondo? A grab bag of goodies.
Here's the official announcement from the Celtics press release:
The Boston Celtics announced today that they have acquired guard Jameer Nelson, forward Jae Crowder, forward/center Brandan Wright, a conditional first round draft pick, a 2016 second round draft pick and a $12.9 million trade exception from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for guard Rajon Rondo and forward Dwight Powell. In a related move, the Celtics have waived center Vitor Faverani.
Regarding that conditional draft pick.
Sources: Protections on the 2015 first-round pick Dallas sent Boston: Protected 1-3 and 15-30 in 2015; 2016-2020 protected to No. 7.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 19, 2014
The protections on the the pick Boston picked up from Dallas, via @WojYahooNBA, effectively make it a '16 first rounder.
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) December 19, 2014
The Mavs are not missing the playoffs this year, especially with Rondo helping them out. So expect that pick to be ours in 2016. The Mavs were smart to protect it through 7 because crazy things happen sometimes, but chances are they'll be fine the next few years, even after Dirk eventually retires.
As for the players, I asked Kirk from Mavs Moneyball to give me a quick scouting report on the guys that we are getting from Dallas. Here's what he had to say.
Brandan Wright - He's a fan favorite in Dallas. The past three years in Dallas Wright's game has really improved. He's got amazing touch around the rim coupled with really ridiculous athleticism. Wright simply jumps so high and has great arc on his shot and that results in his current field goal percentage (75%). Defensively, he's finally figured out how to defend pick and rolls, using his length and quickness to his advantage. His main issues lie within his frame: he is one skinny dude, topping out at 205 on a good day. Despite all this, he's a reasonable rebounder.
Jae Crowder - Oh Jae... where do we begin. There's a lot of people who would contend Crowder doesn't have a place in the league. Before this season, I really would've agreed. He's one of the few young players Rick Carlisle has a lot of trust in. Crowder is a hard working defensive stopper who should be able to shoot the ball. His defensive instincts are solid but doesn't possess the quickness to bother elite wings. He's really best used in short spurts on smaller guards. Offensively, he's a bit of a wreck... shots just don't seem to fall for the guy. After a couple of years of hating on the guy, I really hope for the best for him.
Jameer Nelson - At this point, Nelson is simply too old, small, and slow to make a difference. With Dallas, he insisted on playing the role of Monta-lite, over dribbling and having streaks of baffling decision making. Defensively, he was a train wreck, but that wasn't really a surprise. His shooting stroke still exists though (37% from beyond the arc), so I think given a proper role he can be a contributor
Over all though, I feel pretty badly for Jameer. He was apparently out buying Christmas presents for his kids when the trade went down. I suspect he pushes for a buy out soon with the Celtics. He's a professional, but he's spent a good portion of the last few years on bad teams... I doubt he's ready to do that again. If Nelson doesn't get bought out, I suspect he'd opt out at year's end. He wants a chance to play for a contending team.
In theory, that $12.9M trade exception could come in handy, but with all the cap space that we'll have this offseason, I'm not entirely sure it will matter that much.
Welcome to the Jameer Nelson era, ...I guess.