Is Rajon Rondo due for a big season? Would Brad Stevens ever leave for a college job? That and more in the Boston Celtics mailbag

Now that Rajon Rondo's healthy, is he due for a big season? (AP FILE Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Monday afternoon, I found myself watching adults play knockout on television. After a few seconds, the activity I had chosen (or rather, the activity that had chosen me) sunk in. I started shivering out of disgust, then sweating, and pondered changing the channel.

"You're watching a game you couldn't stand even at age 12," one voice shouted inside my head. "These guys don't even care about who wins. They're not even trying."

One of the Team USA players, maybe Kyrie Irving, attempted a shot. A line of his teammates, plus a few Army athletes, I think, stood behind him. The scent of another station never smelled sweeter. As empty as the thought sounds, I even considered trying a televisionless existence for once. But something held me back. I kept watching as Chandler Parsons won the contest.

"Good," another voiced soothed me. "You won't get too many more opportunities to watch NBA players until the preseason begins. You had to watch."

And then I wept. I bawled about the absence of real basketball. I cried because I'd just spent part of my life watching knockout on TV. I seriously lost my mind.

Or at least I might have, but I needed to go back to answering some questions from the Boston Celtics mailbag. So here you go.

Brad Stevens hates losing. I mean, he really despises it. He wants to spit on losses, slap them, dropkick them, elbow them from the top ropes, and make sure they never return to his life. By returning to college, he could assure himself of winning seasons every year. The best college teams don't rebuild. They reload.

But one thing we learned about Stevens last season: he's a resilient dude. You can beat him, but you can't destroy his faith in the process. You can outlast him in the final minute, but all it will do is make him watch film for that much longer. You can pound his team, but he will summon the strength to speak about the defeat in measured tones, and then he will plot a way to learn from his disappointment.

In other words: I can't see Stevens running away from this challenge. He knew the first year would be tough, and he probably figures the second year won't be much easier. But the Celtics are still set up well for the future, and Stevens, with five years left on his contract, should be around to lead the charge. He wants to win at the highest level of basketball. He has unwavering support from his organization. And one day, we will see how he coaches a talented team. I think we'll all be impressed by the job he does.

The Celtics acquired some assets this summer, but if it feels like they pushed back every major decision ... well, yeah. Danny Ainge hasn't rushed anything. And he's not going to. "Choosing a direction" might seem like the obvious next step, but rebuilding can be more complicated than that.

As things stand right now, the Celtics could do just about anything. Build around Rondo. Trade Rondo. Keep all the first-round draft picks for future use. Package some of the first-round draft picks in a trade (or several). Clear plenty of cap space for 2015. Occupy some of that cap space with moves this year. Ainge hasn't built a perfect roster (not even close), but he maintained plenty of flexibility. Keeping every possibility open beats rushing into one.

We could finally start to see answers soon. Even if Ainge is just exploring, he should gauge what he could fetch for Rondo by February's trade deadline. And if nothing happens by then, next summer should be interesting. I discussed an optimistic scenario last week. Since nothing has changed, I'll just copy-and-paste that in here:

Jeff Green opts out of the final season on his deal, Ainge surrenders a future first-round pick to get rid of Gerald Wallace's final year (hopefully Ainge can find a taker), and Rondo re-signs for about $14 million or $15 million per season (which sounds about fair, though he might want more).

Assuming a similar rise in the salary cap to this year, that would leave the Celtics with about $30 million of cap space (potentially a few million less), plus Rondo, Marcus Smart, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, James Young, Avery Bradley, Tyler Zeller, Phil Pressey (nonguaranteed) and two first-round picks (their own and the Clippers'). For this exercise, I'm not including Evan Turner, whose contract terms still have not been disclosed.

If Ainge adds a high-profile free agent or two, the Celtics could be relevant again as early as one year from now, with a young team that would still have many future draft picks to look forward to.

Sign me up!

"But," you ask, "what if Ainge can't find a taker for Wallace, the Celtics can't sign any high-profile free agents, and Rondo leaves for nothing?" Um, cap space and draft picks, I guess. And more rebuilding.

So please, Ainge, choose the right direction. But until then, keep all the flexibility you can. It's the smart move.

I'll combine these two because doing so makes sense. But first, do yourself a favor: go read Rich Levine's Rondo piece from last week. I'll wait.

(Still waiting. It's pretty long.)

OK, I'm glad you're enlightened now. Here's how I see things: The Celtics are not built well for Rondo. He could use 3-point shooters to spread the floor. They don't have many. He would benefit from a pick-and-roll finisher. Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk are as earthbound as anybody in the NBA. Seriously, if Rondo were sentimental, he might spend his nights weeping into a gallon of ice cream while watching YouTube clips of old alley-oops to Kevin Garnett.

I still think No. 9 will have a big season. I'll give you two reasons why, and the second one's pretty darn long.

1. For the first time ever, he's in a contract year. I'm guessing Contract Year Rondo will be kind of like Playoff Rondo or National TV Rondo (read: electric triple-double machine), only with millions of dollars on the line.

2. Do you understand how long Rondo has been waiting to prove himself? Let's visit the timeline...

As Levine noted, Rondo was great in the 2012 playoffs, as he tends to be in the playoffs every year. He averaged an outrageous 17.3 points, 11.9 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals, and he was even better in the Eastern Conference Finals against Miami. If LeBron James hadn't kicked into video game god mode after Game 5, the Celtics would have won that series. "For the first five games, before LeBron’s awakening," wrote Levine, "Rondo was the best player in a series that included six future Hall of Famers." He was. He very clearly was. And at the same time, the Celtics were publicly passing the leadership torch. But then LeBron happened, the beginning of the next season underwhelmed (for Rondo and his teammates), and Rondo tore his ACL. He hasn't appeared in a playoff game since.

For a year, while recovering from the injury, Rondo watched as artificial controversies swirled around him. First, because the Celtics rattled off a winning streak as soon as he got hurt, people wondered whether the team was better without him. (It wasn't.) When Brad Stevens got hired, some smart folks assumed the move meant Rondo would be traded. (It didn't.) Then Stevens and Rondo acted like good friends, which was cool, and the Rondo backlash ceased, which was nice. Based on all accounts I've heard, player and coach got along well last season. Rondo bought in. For the first time, he even decided to spend most of his offseason in Boston, training with the coaching staff.

But in January, when he returned to the court, he wasn't himself. He couldn't play a full slate of minutes. He couldn't finish around the rim. He couldn't coax wins out of an injury-plagued and oddly-shaped roster. And nobody really got to see how awesome he can be.

While attending the NBA Combine in May, I discussed the NBA's best point guards with a scout whose mind I really respect. "No way Rondo's in the top 10 right now," he said. I stopped. I nodded. I understood. A long time has passed since Rondo almost toppled the Heat. And then I asked a question: But what if he returns to his 2012 postseason form?

"Well, yeah," the scout replied. "No shi**."

Rondo has a lot to prove. He could earn (or lose) a lot of money this season. He's finally healthy. And we know how he typically handles pressure.

So what would a huge Rondo season do for the Celtics? Could they possibly inject themselves into the playoff picture? Eh, not likely. The Cavaliers, Bulls and Wizards are locks. The Raptors didn't lose anything from a team that won 48 games.The Heat will clearly miss James, but should still make the postseason. The Hornets only got more talented. The Nets (old), Hawks (not great), and Pacers (Paul George's injury) could all conceivably miss the playoffs, but the East should at least be marginally better than last season. And last season, the Celtics finished 13 games out of the No. 8 seed.

Maybe, just maybe, the playoffs are in the spectrum of possibilities. But so much would need to go right. Just to name some, Rondo would need to be great; Jared Sullinger, Tyler Zeller and/or Kelly Olynyk would need to take a major step forward; Avery Bradley would need to continue hitting threes; Marcus Smart would need to contribute early and often; Jeff Green would need to bounce back; and Brad Stevens would need to build a borderline elite defense without any threatening shot-blockers.


OK, last question:

I have predicted 30 wins. But Rondo should be great. At least we can look forward to that.