Every winter, while shuffling their rotation to adjust for injuries and the rigors of a long season, the Celtics undergo a point guard crisis. Without fail, it's an annual ritual.
Three years ago, when Rondo was a raw 20-year-old rookie out of the University of Kentucky, he usurped the starting job from Sebastian Telfair. The move paid off. Rondo steadily improved throughout the second half of the season, and he finished the year with 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Rondo became a second team All-Rookie selection in the NBA; Telfair eased into the role of backup.
Two years ago, it was Sam Cassell. The Clippers decided to cut ties with Cassell midway through the 2007-08 season, officially buying him out of his contract on Feb. 28 and waiving him in early March. When he cleared waivers, it was serendipitous timing for the Celtics, who were just gearing up for a deep playoff run and wanted an older, more experienced backup to support the young Rondo. The C's jumped on Cassell, and they had their backup in place down the stretch.
Last season, Stephon Marbury became a free agent in February after the Knicks bought him out. He cleared waivers on Feb. 26, and the Celtics signed him soon after. He gave the Celtics three months of loyal services before walking away from the NBA in favor of quasi-retirement, downright insanity, and eventually a new career in China. Try putting that in a box.
Telfair. Cassell. Marbury.
Who's next?
The Celtics are once again in need of a backup point guard behind Rondo — they're not about to go deep in the playoffs without one. They need the depth, the security, the comfort of a solid floor leader on their bench. And at the moment, they don't have one.
For a while, we all assumed it would be Lester Hudson manning that role. After the Celtics selected Hudson with the No. 58 overall pick in last summer's draft, it made sense to keep him on the active roster as a way to keep Rondo fresh. But with Danny Ainge's decision two weeks ago to waive Hudson and let him walk to the Memphis Grizzlies, the C's are once again empty-handed.
The latest rumor is Nate Robinson. The 25-year-old Knicks guard is a dynamic player and a big name in the NBA, what with his history of dunk contest exploits — but how good a fit is he in Boston? He's a solid individual player. He can knock down shots, he can make plays in transition, he can defend against opposing point guards one-on-one. But he's not much of a team guy — not a passer, not a help defender. Not an "ubuntu" type of player, so to speak.
Not to mention that Robinson makes a hefty $4 million a year, and he's under contract and "the Knicks are looking for quite a bit for him," according to a source in a Boston Herald report on Wednesday.
No, Robinson won't work. The Celtics had best look to find a better option elsewhere.
The pickings seem slim. All the trade buzz in the NBA lately has surrounded big stars — guys like Carlos Boozer, David Lee and Ben Gordon — none of them are point guards, and none are in the C's price range anyway. We've heard very little about available backup guards on the block this winter. And for a Celtics team that could really use one more bench piece for the stretch run, that's disconcerting.
Maybe if they get desperate, the Celtics can talk to Tyronn Lue, a former backup point guard with seven different NBA teams and currently the team's director of basketball development. If he's still got what it takes physically, perhaps he could take one for the team and take the floor as a player again. He's under contract with the team, after all. Might as well make the most of him.
And if that fails, maybe activate Doc Rivers, another former point guard. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
