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Rondo joins the Mavericks

BOSTON — Already engaged in a major rebuilding project, the Boston Celtics have traded their most-prized asset, the four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo, to the Dallas Mavericks for three players and two draft picks, the teams announced.

Rondo (right) has averaged 8.3 points, 10.8 assists and 7.5 rebounds a game this season. Photo: Reuters

Rondo (right) has averaged 8.3 points, 10.8 assists and 7.5 rebounds a game this season. Photo: Reuters

BOSTON — Already engaged in a major rebuilding project, the Boston Celtics have traded their most-prized asset, the four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo, to the Dallas Mavericks for three players and two draft picks, the teams announced.

The trade on Thursday sent forwards Brandan Wright and Jae Crowder and point guard Jameer Nelson to Boston along with a first-round pick next year. The Celtics (9-14) also received a second-round pick, while sending the seldom-used Dwight Powell to Dallas, presumably for salary-matching purposes.

Rondo, a first-round pick of the Celtics in 2006, is in the final year of his contract and had told the team he would test free agency.

While the Celtics understood Rondo’s stance — he would earn more by waiting — they also did not want to be left with nothing.

General manager Danny Ainge has been stockpiling first-round picks over the past two years to hasten the rebuilding process and the team will now have three first-round picks in next year’s draft.

Rondo has averaged 8.3 points, 10.8 assists and 7.5 rebounds a game this season. Injuries had hampered him in the previous two seasons. Rondo tore his right anterior cruciate ligament midway through the 2012-13 season and appeared in only 38 games.

Last season, he played only 30 games while recovering from the injury. This season, he missed most of training camp when he broke his hand in a shower accident at his home.

He will be 29 in February and is the last link to the Celtics’ 2008 NBA title team.

Rondo appears to be a major upgrade for the Mavericks, who have been using three players at the point guard position: Nelson, Devin Harris and J J Barea. ESPN’s Stats and Information blog showed that the threesome ranked last in the NBA among point guards in points per game (7.4) and last with a field-goal percentage of 36. The group ranked 28th in assists per game at only 4.3 a game, with Nelson (4.1) leading the way.

“He likes to give up the ball and he makes it easier for people,” Shaquille O’Neal, Rondo’s team-mate on the Celtics in the 2010-11 season, said on American television on Thursday. “I say they make it to the Western Conference finals.” On the same TV programme, veteran NBA forward Grant Hill said: “Rondo’s skill set complements the rest of this team.” He likened the stars Rondo will join to the Big 3 he once played with in Boston: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

Rondo was leading the NBA in assists with 10.8 per game. He led the league in assists in 2011-12 and 2012-13. His play this season has been up and down, complicated by his shooting 33 per cent from the free-throw line and a line-up that has been in flux as coach Brad Stevens searches for a successful combination.

Rondo’s passing skills could blend well with targets such as Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons and Monta Ellis. Rondo also seems to be a good fit on the defensive perimeter, especially with a rim protector like Tyson Chandler behind him. Rondo led the NBA in steals in 2009-10, the first season he was selected to the All-Star Game. THE NEW YORK TIMES

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