Yesterday a rumor began that the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics were discussing a potential trade involving Rajon Rondo. The rumor picked up speed quite quickly with Shane Larkin and even the Mavericks cornerstone Dirk Nowitzki both being brought up. A source close to the Celtics situation however is killing the whole buzz. Read more after the jump.
The Celtics are clearly in rebuilding mode after sending coach Doc Rivers to the Clippers and trading Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to the Nets. It’s said that the Celtics plan to rebuild around their star point guard Rajon Rondo who’s currently rehabbing from a torn ACL. Now Rondo is also being discussed in trade talks yet again.
ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reports the Celtics have asked for Dirk Nowitzki. That makes for an awfully brief conversation, especially considering Nowitzki’s no-trade clause. They also have interest in the Mavericks first round draft pick, Shane Larkin but he’d hardly be enough to entice a deal. The Mavericks would have to take a bunch of contracts the Celtics would want to get off their books which would make things difficult in the Dwight Howard chase.
Danny Ainge himself said recently he wasn’t trying to trade Rondo and yesterday two sources backed him up.
“The Celtics haven’t had any conversations with Dallas about Rondo,” said one source. “That’s ridiculous. There’s no truth to it. What in the world does Dallas have to offer for Rondo?”
The second source pointed to the state of the Dallas roster.
“They’re trying to rebuild around a 37-year-old Dirk Nowitzki,” he said. “They have a lot of old expiring contracts, and that’s about it.”
