Pistons Will Not Get Rondo This Off-Season [BLOG]
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
DETROIT (CBS DETROIT) - Where Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo will play next season has little to do with which teams want him and more to do with a classic stock market principle.
Buy low, sell high.
Think about it. When you purchase a stock, you expect its value to rise so you can eventually sell it and make a profit. In the meantime, you want to earn dividends on that investment.
If the value of the stock plummets - say, the basketball player you are scheduled to pay $25 million over the next two years suffers an injury that keeps him from playing basketball - you could get rid of the stock immediately. More likely, though, you want to give your investment a chance to rebound, hoping you will still eventually make money or at least break even - and continue collecting dividends in the meantime.
Right now Rondo's stock is lower than usual.
He had surgery in February to repair the torn ACL in his right knee. Whether he will be the same player after the injury is uncertain. Many great players - notably football stars like Robert Griffin III - have come back even stronger after ACL tears, but sometimes a player's game is negatively affected.
If for some reason Danny Ainge, the Celtics' president of basketball operations, thought Rondo would be a less desirable player once he returned to the floor, Ainge might be wise to send Rondo elsewhere before other teams figure out that he is not the player he once was.
Much more likely, though, Rondo will recover nicely and still have great trade value for the Celtics - if they end up trading him at all. After all, even a slightly diminished Rondo would still be a solid point guard.
With that the probable situation, it makes sense that the Celtics are likely hoping to maximize Rondo's future trade value by hanging onto him while he rehabilitates his knee and gets back to playing.
At this point, teams could be legitimately hesitant to assign Rondo the same trade value they would have before the injury. Even if teams believe he will be the same player, they can still profess doubt to the Celtics to push down the amount they would give up to acquire Rondo.
When Rondo gets healed up and returns to the floor, his value rebounds, and the Celtics can get more for their star point guard, commensurate with what he would have commanded before the ACL tear.
Finance, more than preference, is why Rondo will probably not be moving this summer, if he does move at all down the line.
Even though Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars denied trade rumors involving Rondo and Pistons guard Brandon Knight, it stands to reason Detroit at least considered Rondo, who has started at point guard for the Celtics since the 2007-2008 season and averaged 13.7 points and 11.1 assists in his injury-shortened 2012-2013 season. There were reports that the Pistons tried to trade for Rondo back in 2009, in a swap that would have sent Rondo and Ray Allen to the Pistons in exchange for Rodney Stuckey, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.
If the Pistons still want Rondo, they still probably will not be getting him, at least not in the near future.
