Though any trade seems unlikely, the Celtics and Lakers have reportedly engaged in preliminary trade discussions.
The Boston Celtics have reportedly held trade discussions with the Los Angeles Lakers centered around Lakers center Dwight Howard and Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.
But any deal remains unlikely, according to two separate reports.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported late Friday night that the Celtics and Lakers "engaged in preliminary trade discussions" of a swap highlighted by the two All-Stars. But before you start wondering how Howard and Kevin Garnett would coexist as teammates with seemingly diametrically opposed personalities, two later reports labeled the deal unlikely.
Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reported that while the two teams did indeed talk Rondo-for-Howard "at least two weeks ago," it was before Rondo's partially torn ACL ended his season. According to Murphy, the point guard's surgery "seemingly ended any real chance of trade discussions moving beyond the preliminary phase."
David Aldridge of NBA.com tweeted this:
Source who would definitely know re: reported Rondo/Howard talks: "nothing. Zero. Nada. Niente. Clear?" So, there's that.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) February 16, 2013
A Rondo-for-Howard deal wouldn't work straight up for salary reasons.
It's unlikely Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak would admit having discussions with the Celtics, but, for what it's worth, he denied doing so to ESPN's Chris Broussard.
It's fun to wonder whether Howard and Garnett would form the league's greatest defensive frontcourt or one of its most dysfunctional duos, but the odds of such a fascinating experiment happening seem slim.
Update as of 12:48 a.m. on Saturday: CSNNE.com's A. Sherrod Blakely is reporting that while the Lakers and Celtics have held trade discussions, "at no point did the conversation involve a Rondo-for-Howard swap."