The other obstacle I could see with this (correct me if I am wrong) is can the Celts afford to offer Eric Bledsoe a max, which is what he's looking for?
I mean a max deal would be what? 4-5 yrs at 60-80 mil?
I am assuming the Celts would have to trade Rondo's salary and the salary of another player (maybe Bass) to make it work, right?
No.
A team acquiring a player either via S&T or through cap space can only sign the player to a max length of 4 years. Only a player's current team can give them the 5th year, which again can't be transferred via S&T. So in Bledsoe's case, you're talking about a 4 year deal starting at approximately 12M, with yearly increases which take it to around 60M.
No, just Rondo.
Ok, thanks for clarifying.
My preference would be to keep Rondo and add a couple vets around him.
But, if you're not going to do that and if you don't think you're going to keep Rondo long-term, then maybe dealing him for Bledsoe makes some sense.
The only thing that would worry me about Bledsoe is his past injuries but then again, Rondo has had his fair share of injuries himself.