Rajon Rondo has been in the middle of NBA trade rumors ever since his long-time teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were trade to the Brooklyn Nets. These speculations got even stronger when he decided to skip his team's game versus the Sacramento Kings to celebrate his birthday in Los Angeles on February 22.

On Monday night, March 8, Rondo proved that he remains committed to the team that gave him his first championship. The four-time NBA all-star had 18 assist to help his team win over the Detroit Pistons, 118-111. The 18 dimes is the season's highest for Rondo who now has surpassed Bill Russell on the C's all-time assist list.

"I had seven of those 28 the other night, so I just made a conscious effort of taking better care of the ball with me being the point," Rondo said referring to the 28 turnovers they made the other night.

"You have the ball in your hands the entire game, it starts with you. It was a trickle-down effect. When one guy is passing the ball, it's contagious and guys keep moving the ball. Granted we scored a lot of points tonight, but we kept pushing, hit the 3 and had fun."

Rondo might not be traded, as insisted by Danny Ainge in earlier interviews. However, for Detroit's Josh Smith, it would be nice if his former high school roommate will be moved again, hopefully in a team where he is playing for.

"The conversation comes up," Smith said. "We always tell each other how surreal a moment that would be, for us to be able to reconnect again in that realm. With the different free agencies that we both have, it could be far-fetched, but it could be possible, too.

"I'm always optimistic. I'm always thinking different scenarios. It could happen, but who knows?"

Well, there was once a Smith to Celtics talks before while Detroit shown interest on Rondo once. On February this year, Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations was rumored to have made talks involving deals for Josh Smith which they signed just last year. According to SB Nation, the move will be made to "allow the Pistons to more capably attack forward Greg Monroe's upcoming free agency." However, trade deadline came and Smith remained with the Pistons.

This also seems impossible for the Celtics because hiring Smith would mean shipping out Jeff Green or Gerald Wallace. These two players are the key pieces in C's system and they can't afford to lose them.