NBA: 5 players that need to be traded as soon as possible
According to the rules of the NBA, the players that have signed new contracts this past summer which is basically 80% of the league are eligible as of December 15th to be traded. As the days pass on everybody will be available to be shipped till the mid-season trade deadline of February 19th, which coincides with the ending of the unusually long 10 day All-Star break.Since teams generally like to test the waters and weigh their options, it is highly unlikely that teams would pick up or ship players so early in the window. It is usually the last 10 days of the window that are the busiest in the league. There will be more smoke than fire behind every trade rumor because the players that the teams want to trade the most take so much money that it is difficult to find other teams ready to pick up that kind of a contract. The mid-season transfer window is basically an opportunity for the championship contenders to pick up final missing pieces or for other teams to pick up a couple of players that can help the franchise make the post-season.Accessing the performance of the teams and players so far, here are 5 players who must be traded during this mid-season transfer window:
#5 Rajon Rondo - Boston Celtics
Danny Ainge, the President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics has denied making Rajon Rondo available for trades, but many believe the C’s drafting guard Marcus Smart as their sixth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft was an indication of Rondo’s future in Boston.
Offering Rondo in a trade would allow the Celtics to strengthen the weak spots on their roster. His low scoring multidimensional contributions would be extremely valuable to teams such as the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers. It would be foolish on the part of the franchise to trade him before Smart, the guard they intend to groom gets healthy.
Rondo averages 8 points, a league best 10.6 assists and 7 rebounds in 21 games so far. He is one of the best, if not the best low scoring point guards there is in the league today. He averages 8 points on 7.5 attempted field goals attempted, a clear indication that he could score more if he is given the opportunities to shoot more within the system.