The Boston Celtics are not interested in trading guard Rajon Rondo. Celtics president Danny Ainge insists he isn't fielding calls for Rondo, who Ainge claims is a key part of the team's rebuilding, USA Today Sports reports.
Boston's 2008 championship core of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and coach Doc Rivers is gone. Allen went to the Miami Heat last season, Pierce and Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets last week and Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers three days before that.
Teams have begun to inquire about the availability of the rest of Boston's team, including Rondo, Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger and even first-round draft pick Kelly Olynyk.
But, despite how it may look, Ainge doesn't plan to completely implode his team.
"Maybe the assumption is that we'll give away any of our players," Ainge told reporters on Monday. "There's been calls for all those guys. And maybe the assumption is we are just changing everybody, but we're not.
"We're starting to get younger."
Although Rondo's name has been the subject of trade rumors for several seasons, Ainge appeared adamant that the four-time NBA All-Star wasn't going anywhere.
"I always listen to calls and listen to what ideas are, but we have no intentions of moving Rajon," he said.
Another reason Ainge doesn't want to part with the guard is because he wants to see how Rondo performs as the team leader, without Pierce and Garnett in the locker room, according to Sporting News.
Ainge's vision for the Celtics is to build a younger team through acquisitions and the draft.
Acquiring players through free agency this summer, however, is unlikely. The Celtics don't have the cap room or the interest, according Ainge.
"Free agency right now is not a priority for us," Ainge said. "We have too many players. We have logjams. ... I think our job is to try to clean that up through the summer."
One of Boston's needs is a coach. Ainge said there's no rush to hire a coach, even as the list of potential candidates dwindles. The Celtics could be waiting for their roster to take a more definitive shape, so that whoever the next coach is knows exactly what he's taking over.
