But again what are the odds of keeping Rondo for the long term?? If we don't make moves to add all stars, you can't maximize his top skills (assists, steals).
Mclemore like you said is on his way to becoming a starter in this league + the 2015-2016 Kings pick (might still not make the playoffs out of the tough West) and our own pick risng. Also, you lose Rondo but you get to accelerate Smart's growth. He has been only getting praises left and right and on his way to make team USA team eventually.
What I was trying to present was this: Maybe getting a tangible plalyer for the coming years in anticipation of Rondo leaving is not an advantagious move.
All of the reasoning you used to support a Rondo trade can be used to oppose the aquisition of Mclemore. Positional redundancy, blocking development, all of this could go the other way. (Mclemore could block Smart, Avery would have to sit if not, and your $9 million man is on the bench, Mclemore would probably slot behind Smart and Bradley at this point, etc.) A positional redundancy would occur if Mclemore becomes starter-caliber, as Avery is also a starting-caliber SG, and we just signed him to a long term deal. If he doesn't become better than Avery, we have another guy to contend with the Evan Turners and Phil Presseys of the world, only he has a guaranteed contract (if we pick up his 2yr option, which is likely the front office would do for no other reason than to avoid the public shame from the trade that they would get if they immediately let Mclemore walk). If he becomes starting-caliber and shows PG skills (which he hasn't flashed to this point), he blocks Smart. Mclemore is just as likely to become a superstar as Rondo is, but the downside is a little lower than Rondo. If Rondo stinks, we get a better draft pick and he walks, giving us cap space while also solving the redundancy issue. If Rondo is back to old form (above-average but hasn't shown he can carry a team consistently), his trade value goes up and we can get a better haul. If Rondo becomes a bona fide superstar we go into an upwards trajectory and never look back. Even the "fit" argument could be used against your side because Mclemore was lower efficiency from Rondo in the field, his only advantage being in 3pt shooting, which was by 3%. At the rate Mclemore shoots threes, that equates to roughly 36 points per season compared to what he would've had if he shot Rondo's percentage. He was absolutely horrific everywhere else, but I don't want to focus on the minutia (shooting percentage) while losing sight of the big picture. Even if Rondo does walk, it will better prepare Smart to step into the starting role next year. No one gets hurt by sitting behind a veteran for just one year.
Overall, I don't disagree that trading Rondo could wind up being the C's best option, but trading Rondo for Mclemore doesn't make sense.
Edit: Lucky17 also points out in another thread that the Kings owe their 2015 pick to Chicago, rendering all of their 1sts up until 2017 untradable. TP to him for that info.
Topic: Rondo to Kings or Rockets trade ideas (Read 22500 times)