My summary of this Macrondogate saga:
1) Jackie has heard from someone with deep connections (someone she considers trustworthy with things in this regard) that Rondo's told Danny he wants out if the Celtics are going to be rebuilding.
2) Jackie never said that Rondo has demanded a trade. The media has adopted this as usual like Chinese whispers and made the story more newsworthy and clickable for internet hits on their sites.
3) She actually said that she heard that he wants out, and her stance appears to be that if that's the case and he doesn't want to be part of a rebuild, then she'd want them to trade him before they lose him for nothing and this whole thing gets ugly. I say that is likely her stance from the articles she's written recently.
4) Rondo doesn't want a trade, and Jackie Mac never said he did- so don't buy the other crap if you didn't see the video. Not once did she say 'Rondo wants a trade'. She even said 'there's no one that gives you even 80 cents on the dollar'.
5) Rondo wants to stay in Boston, attempt to get back to the old Rondo, and then become an unrestricted free agent when the season is over.
6) One can logically conclude that Rondo likely doesn't want a trade because this is his home, or the place where he spends most of his time during the year, and if he went somewhere like (for example) Sacramento via a trade then there's a pretty good chance he'd leave as a free agent within 10 months anyway because he wants to play for the Celtics (under the right circumstances) or a playoff contender.
7) To add to the above, a factor that hasn't really been mentioned or speculated by anyone is that he's likely to increase his value as a free agent by:
a) playing with other stars who'll make him look better when their conversion rate is higher on his amazing passing and playmaking (and garnering national TV coverage/attention) or
b) playing with guys he's familiar with ie Avery, Green, Bass, Sully etc and being in the comfort of his hometown.
I have no doubt that Rondo desperately wants the Celtics to get another star because he desperately wants to play here for his entire career. But I don't doubt that he'd leave or has potentially told the Celtics he'll probably have to leave if they can't get another star. He's putting pressure on them to get something done which is the correct strategy.
They've shown they're serious about bringing someone in, but there's a lot of luck involved too.
Rondo's gotta look out for Rondo.
But yeah I think it's important to note that Jackie Mac never said he'd demanded a trade, she said she's heard from someone she considers an insider that he's told them he wants out.
If it's true that he's said something, I think it's reasonably logical to assume that he doesn't mean 'I want out at all costs, I'm done with the Celtics'.
I think it's more logical to speculate his words (if they are true) as: ' I love the Celtics but I want out if we can't add another star player and you decide to go the long rebuild route'.
Fact is I'm not sure Danny Ainge knows what he wants with Rondo yet either.
In Danny's, and all of our perfect worlds, Rondo recovers 100% from injury and is even better than before. The Celtics add another star and Rondo re-signs for 4-5 seasons and we go battling the Cavs and Bulls for the next 5 years in playoff folklore.
First part for Danny is seeing if Rondo can be good enough again to be a top 3 player on a championship team. If the answer is yes, then we'll keep him, or go as hard as possible at trying to keep him. If not, he'll offer Rondo what he deems fair, and move on if Rondo wants more than Danny thinks he's worth.
Most exciting part for me is seeing what Ainge and the crew come up with over the next 10 months for getting another star. I think they'll have a plan in place which caters for Rondo recovering to 100% (like the Kevin Love plan that crashed). They'll also have a plan B which they'll execute if Rondo appears unable to get back to what he once was.
I'd love to see
Rondo
Smart
Draft pick
Sully
Hibbert.
If we could only be so lucky.