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Celtics, Mavs talk Rajon Rondo swap
Updated: December 17, 2014, 11:49 PM ET
By
Marc Stein | ESPN.com
The Boston Celtics, after years of flirting with potential Rajon Rondo deals, are in substantive discussions on a trade that would send Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Celtics and Mavericks have been discussing a swap that would furnish Boston with multiple draft picks -- including at least one future first-rounder -- as well as blossoming Mavericks center Brandan Wright and other players needed to make the salary-cap math work.
Sources say the Celtics also have been talking to teams such as the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets about potential Rondo deals, but that the most advanced discussions have been with Dallas.
Because Rondo is in the final year of his current contract, sources say that any team that can come to terms on a trade with Boston likely will request permission to confer with Rondo and his representatives to get Rondo's input on the new destination, which gives them a level of influence into where he's ultimately dealt.
Rondo shrugged off the latest trade talk Wednesday night after Boston's 109-92 win over the Orlando Magic.
"[Trade talk has been] a way of life since I've been here," he said. "It's just part of it."
Rondo, while maintaining that his preference is to continue his career in Boston, has left little doubt in recent months that he intends to test the market as a free agent in July as opposed to signing an extension with the Celtics. But sources say that Dallas, amid growing concern about its point guard play and sensing the opportunity to acquire a top-flight player it has coveted for some time, is confident that it could win Rondo over for the long term if trade terms can be finalized with the Celtics.
If a trade comes to fruition, Rondo would join Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler andChandler Parsons in a high-octane starting five.
The risk for Dallas, of course, is that Rondo could leave town in free agency in the summer if he is determined to move on or can't come to terms on a new deal with the Mavericks, which in that scenario could potentially burn the veteran-laden Mavs, given the multiple quality assets they'd have to sacrifice to get him.
It remains to be seen whether Celtics general manager Danny Ainge will continue to try to shop for offers elsewhere or jump on the assets Dallas is offering in exchange for the mercurial point guard, knowing that he could leave Boston without compensation in the summer.
Although the Celtics have been insisting since the season began that they weren't actively looking to move Rondo, Dallas and the Houston Rockets are among the teams that have been chasing him for some time. It's believed that the Mavericks are pressing the issue earlier in the season than expected to give Rondo more time to settle.
The Mavericks began the season with the challenge of integrating two new major pieces in Parsons and the returning Chandler, but concerns had developed through the first quarter of the season about the lack of a top-flight floor leader and shot creator to set up the many weapons at the disposal of coach Rick Carlisle.
