The Celtics/Thunder Trade That Should Have Been

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Following the conclusion of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported that the Boston Celtics had reached out to the Oklahoma City Thunder and presented a deal that centered on landing Russell Westbrook in Beantown in exchange for All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo. While the Thunder nixed the deal, it would have been a perfect trade for them in hindsight.

Before we get started, however, it’s necessary for me to make it clear that I don’t think Westbrook is the lone cause of the Thunder’s inability to win a championship, nor do I think that he necessarily hinders Kevin Durant on the court. I personally think he’s one of the top 10 players in the entire NBA and one of the more exciting to watch, too.

With all of that being said, this would have been the perfect deal for both sides. As of 2012, the Thunder still had James Harden on the roster, though he wasn’t quite the player that he is now. As we now know, the team eventually shipped Harden off to Houston and the rest is history. He’s also become a top 10 player in the game (depending on who you ask) and he’s one of the better scorers that the game has to offer.

Aside from having Harden still on the roster, Rondo’s playing style would probably mesh better with the rest of the lineup. Rather than having a point guard who dominates the ball like Westbrook, Oklahoma City would have had one of, if not the best distributor in all of basketball.

Over the course of their careers, Rondo has averaged about 2 more assists per game than Westbrook, and he takes around 7 less shots. Rondo’s edge in efficiency is definitely a result of these fewer shots, as is the fact that he had the original Big 3 (Garnett, Pierce, Allen) with him for a large part of his time in the league.

Along with making his teammates better, Rondo also is a better defender by just about any metric that you use. Defensive Win Shares and Defensive Rating are heavily in his favor, and just by watching the tape you see that he doesn’t get caught out of position as often as Westbrook does. While Westbrook tends to watch the ball and gamble on that side of the floor, Rondo is a heady defender who consistently stays in front of his man.

With all of this being said, going into Boston would be the perfect scenario for Westbrook. He’d finally get to be the clear-cut number 1 option that he’s seemingly always wanted to be, and he wouldn’t have to worry so much about getting his teammates touches. He would be the focal point that he deserves to be (and occasionally is in Oklahoma City).

While Rondo is certainly an incredible player and a top 5 point guard when he’s healthy, I’m just not sure that you could ever build a team with him as the first option on the offensive end. The same cannot be said for Westbrook, who has the explosiveness and touch that you look for in your go-to guy.

They might lose a little bit on the defensive end with the departure of Rondo, but Avery Bradley’s prowess on that end would be more than enough to make up for it. The team finished in 12th this year in a battered Eastern Conference, but the presence of a healthy Westbrook (he wouldn’t have been taken out by Patrick Beverley had he been in Boston) may have been enough to push them into the playoffs.

With a core of Durant, Harden and Rondo, the Thunder would have been poised to be the unquestioned top seed in the brutal Western Conference year-in and year-out, and they might even have a championship ring by now. In Boston, Westbrook would have been the perfect player for the team to build around as they transitioned out of the Big Three era.

Unfortunately for both teams and their fans, this trade never went down, and now we’re all just left wondering, “What if?”

Thanks for reading.