In the spirit of this thread... I'd argue that the Charlotte Bobcats are closer to winning a championship than this team.
It's the short-view vs long-view.
At first, that sounds crazy-town.
Look at it this way... The New Orleans Hornets initially were set to trade Chris Paul for a package that would net them Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic.
The NBA (acting owner of the Hornets) smartly declined the trade. WHy? ... well it was simple really. It wasn't petty. It wasn't corruption. It was "baskeball reasons" and those "basketball reasons" made a heck of a lot of sense. Short-sighted fans looked at that trade and said, "That's not a bad deal! That's a lot of talent... they could make the playoffs with that talent!" ... And sure, maybe they would. But they were eliminating a Top-5 player in Chris Paul and replacing him with a bunch of mediocre fringe-stars. None of those guys were all-stars. At most they would have won 35-45 games. Meanwhile, they would have saddled themselves with 100 million dollars worth of bad salary if they made that deal... they would have ruined any shot of drafting a franchise player... and they would have stuck themself into a rut of perpetual mediocrity.
At the time, I thought the veto made TOTAL sense. In retrospect, it made even more sense. Odom was a travesty in Dallas. Scola was so mediocre, his team didn't mind amnestying him. K-Mart is currently coming off the bench. I like Dragic, but Dragic isn't an impact player.
The alternative? Young Eric Gordon, the pick that became #10 (Austin Rivers) and most importantly... addition-by-subtraction... putting yourself in position to tank and land a top 5 pick (the superstar scratch ticket). Now, Gordon and Rivers so far look underwhelming... but that superstar scratch ticket nabbed them the second coming of Kevin Garnett (Anthony Davis). I'd gladly take that Hornets roster over ours... Davis is the future. You absolutely can build a contender around Anthony Davis if he develops the way we expect him to.
"Running it back" is akin to accepting that Scola/Odom/Martin/Dragic trade. You'll put yourself in a fine position to win 45 games. If KG/PP retire and we decide to march out a team built around Rondo, Green, Bradley, Bass and Sully... you're looking at a 25-38 win team. Best case: 1st round exist. Worst case: Mid-Lotto.
As much as I love Rondo, there isn't a single player on this team you can build a contender around. There is no Anthony Davis on this squad. We're severely lacking in quality assets... Bradley alone probably wouldn't net a lotto pick. Sully was a late 1st rounder for a reason. Beyond that, there's nothing on this team in terms of value. The contracts of Bass, Terry and Lee are borderline terrible. Green is alright, but will never be an all-star. If KG and Pierce retire, you're looking at a perpetually mediocre team. Too good to suck. Too bad to contend.
Compare that to the Bobcats position. They have 9 players 26 years old and younger.
Kemba Walker - Solid young player (22 years old) ... was the 9th pick in 2011. 2nd year player currently averaging 18 points and 6 assists and 2 steals on a bad team. Good asset.
Gerald Henderson - Good young SG (25 years old) with proper size (6'5 215)... was the 12th pick in 2009. Averaged 15.5 points and 4 rebounds. Solid asset.
Bismack Biyomobo - Good young big. (20 years old). Was the 7th pick in 2011. Averaged 7 boards and 2 blocks. Solid asset.
Michael Kidd-Gilcrest - Only 19 years old. Was the 2nd pick this year. Was one of the top rookies in the league in terms of efficiency. He's one of the best young prospects in the league. Elite asset.
Byron Mullins and Jeff Taylor also have some value...
Additionally, they have the 2nd best odds in this upcoming draft... which means they could luck into Nerlens Noel.
Let me pause for a second. I'd argue that MKG has more trade value than Rondo. I'd also argue that their pick (projected #2 in this draft) also has more trade value than Rondo.
Let's take it a step further... that team has all their key players locked into rookie deals. They have boatloads of cap space.
And most importantly, they'll stink again next year... meaning they'll be one of the frontrunners to land a top 5 pick in the HUGE 2014 draft (with Andrew Wiggins the star player).
With the Bobcats, you're looking at a team who (if properly managed) could be a contender within the next 4 years. THey are LOADED with young assets and cap space. Danny Ainge would be salivating to have that kind of flexibility. That's the kind of assets you either build a contender around (the OKC route) or you flip for established vets (the 2007 Celtics route).
Boston, on the other hand, is in a very poor position to contend in the short and long term. For all of these reasons, I'd argue that the Charlotte Bobcats are far closer to contending than the Boston Celtics are. Yes, Boston might make the playoffs for a the next couple years (and get walloped by the contenders) while in the short term the Bobcats will remain a lotto team... but if I had to put money on one of these teams winning a title in 2018... I'd put money on the Bobcats.