Despite what some day, the Kevin Garnett trade does not mean the balance of power is swinging East in the NBA. The Garnett deal doesn't make the Boston Celtics the odds-on favorite to represent the East in the NBA finals. The move doesn't even mean the C's are the best team in their division, as both Toronto and New Jersey are good bet to finish ahead of the Celtics. No, all acquiring Kevin Garnett REALLY does is put poor old Rajon Rondo under, arguably, the most pressure in the NBA this season.

Look it's no secret the Celtics are thinner than a Brittney Spears crop top. Forget about Kendirck Perkins, the C's other likely starter. Whatever the Celtics get out of him, beyond competent rebounding, will be a bonus. It's Rondo who has the ability to be good. It's Rondo who the Boston fans are going to hope takes the next step. And it's Rondo who has to take that next step if the Celtics are going to fulfill any of those loftier predictions.

Let's face it, point guard is the key position on a basketball court. You simply can't win if your team's isn't good. People forget that Michael Jordan played with a consummate pro in Ron Harper. Those Houston teams had Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, but they also had a young Sam Cassell. Even the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant Lakers leaned on their own under-rated point guard, one Derek Fisher.

So if Boston is going to win anything that actually matters, they need to be a) healthy and b) Rondo has to be good. Not great mind you, but he has to be good. And, hey, it could happen. In college Rondo was a difference maker, as his speed and defensive ability made him the catalyst for Kentucky on both ends of the court.

Last year he showed flashes of being able to disrupt an opponents game plan on both offense and defense. He's killer quick, and has a real commitment to checking his man. As a starter he put up respectable numbers – 10.6 PPG, 5.8 APG and just over two turnovers. He also rebounded well pulling down more than five caroms a game. Most importantly Rondo shot a very respectable .474 from the field and hit a third of all his threes. If the Celtics can get a small step up on those numbers, they could well be the conference finalist many have anointed them as.

There is, however, real cause for Boston fans to be concerned. Coming off the bench Rondo shot just 37-percent, and hit less than one in 10 three-balls. His assist-to-turnover ratio also crashed through the all-important 2-1 floor.

One could look at this as a simple example of a player who needed the minutes in order to thrive. But, many of the times Rondo was coming off the bench it was for good reason. The rookie went through long stretches where he did little but look lost on the court. He sometimes struggled in half-court sets, and made some spectacularly poor decisions.

Part of this is a normal learning curve for an NBA point guard. Part of this though fits into the book on Rondo – that he can't shoot consistently, and when he can't shoot the rest of his game suffers because defenders play off him, nullifying his speed. Still, I think the fact Rondo has the keys to the back-court, now that Delonte West is off to Seattle (perhaps to become an unheralded star), and Sebastien Telfair is in Minnesota (where if the Wolves are extremely lucky and patient they might one day have the 2005 version of Rafer Alston – combustible but not awful) he can become a better player and it will all turn out to be good for Boston.

After all, two other NBA point-guards, who almost anyone would consider a huge improvement on Rondo, came into the NBA with basically the exact same rap – TJ Ford and Tony Parker. Parker has definitely found his shooting stroke, and Ford is much more dangerous than he was earlier in his career.

While Rondo, like those two, might need a year or two to fully utilize his skills properly, his college pedigree suggests he knows how to help a good team win. As long as Rondo can take those steps in the next few seasons, the Celtics might end up with an NBA title out of their gamble on creating the new "big three,"