As the season progressed I saw the disinterest of Rondo playing hard. Whether he had accepted that he wasn't cut to be a leader or not it's when I saw the writing on the wall that his days were numbered. That comeback game vs. Washington were Smart hyped everyone up and inspired the team to keep playing as hard as they could was a glimpse of what we got in the 2014 Draft. The way he dominated and keep making hustle plays convinced me that he was the true player Boston wanted to build at PG. He was also responsible for the Mavs comeback as well (Green and Bradley too, but he energized them with his fire). Rondo was sat on the bench and not for a mere minute did he come back. He also had 0 points to show for his performance and pretty much mailed the game after being benched. If it was Rondo instead of Smart in that 4th quarter we would have gotten blown out, period. Rondo was asking for max money and he definitely did not deserve it, even with the cap going up in 2016. He's not a player you pay max to, he can't take over games and can't make crucial shots to will a win for his team. That's why Ainge traded him. He gave him the keys to lead and he was putting up stinkers, looking for assists and triple-doubles to stat pad instead of producing wins. At 8 PPG and a streak of 2 point games, lack of effort in late game situations and the all-around lack of improvement in Rondo's weaknesses is what sealed his fate. A lot of people will crucify Ainge for not being a man of his word and not building around Rondo, but he has the right to change his mind. We were playing a brutal schedule mind you, but even through that adversity did we not see Rondo try to put the team on his back, getting burned and embarrassed by virtually every opposing PG that played us ( Vs.Canaan are you kiddin' me?!). He was basically regressing and showed the passion to lead whereas Smart did just that behind him as a back-up. Leaders push their teams to play hard and also prove that they will play hard with them to win games, not making cool lobs or flashy passes to rack up assists. That's Un-Celtic IMO. We won our titles being an unselfish team historically. We played as a team. That's what Brad has intended on doing. That's why he runs a motion read-and-react offense. Everyone gets a share of the glory. Leading the league in stats does nothing for the team if it's losing. Rondo was great in here but his weaknesses bogs the team down to a halt. KG, Pierce and Allen were the reasons we won games, Rondo extended their careers being an elite play-maker but he was never groomed to take over. And if he was was he was doing a terrible job at it. He said the right things but they never translated into the court. I think the majority had enough of his inconsistent plays and moody demeanor and wanted him to mature into a star player we could have built around. Too late for sour grapes though. IMO Smart will be in the long run much better than Rondo minus the passing and play-making (though I would sacrifice all that for big time PPGs, wins and championships).