Blakely On Gresh & Zo: Doc Rivers' Juggling Act
BOSTON (CBS) - Life without Rajon Rondo begins for the Boston Celtics, as their point guard will be sidelined the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
CSNNE's A. Sherrod Blakely joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh & Zolak on Monday to discuss how the Celtics will go about trying to replace Rondo, and how the Celtics do without him could affect his future.
"You're going to see a lot of three-guard lineups, because they're going to need as many ball-handlers as possible," said Blakely. "They're going to do a lot of grab-bag type stuff at this point, because they really don't know how this will all play out."
Read: Celtics Ready To Move On Without Rondo
"It's going to be a serious juggling act (for Doc Rivers). (Avery) Bradley is the one guy you know will start every game. I like (Courtney) Lee starting with him; it gives you a dynamic defensive backcourt with those guys," noted Blakely. "I think those are the guys you'll see starting, and then (Leandro) Barbosa and Jet (Jason Terry) coming off the bench. The way they rotated those guys (against Miami) is how that's going to work."
Boston could try to swing a deal for another point guard, but Blakely thinks Danny Ainge will likely stick with what he currently has on the roster.
"When you look at the pieces they have, is there a huge market for Brandon Bass? I don't think so. Jason Terry? I don't think so. The guys you have that would get interest are Paul Pierce – and you're not going to get much for an aging veteran near the end of his career."
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Should the Celtics do well without Rondo, how will that play into his future with the team? He signed a contract extension last season and was handed the keys to the show by the Celtics veterans before this year got underway, but if the team does better without Rondo what does that mean for the franchise player going forward?
"I think it has to be factored in. This was the first year where Garnett and Pierce pulled back the reigns and were so outspoken about this being Rondo's team. This is the first time that has happened, and the first time that this team has – let's be real – has sucked," said Blakely. "This was Rondo's team, so if he's out of the equation and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have to take on similar leadership roles, and the team gets on a ridiculous winning streak and get back to the way it was, it's going to be an interesting summer."
