Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Team president Danny Ainge maintained before the start of the season that he wanted to keep his 28-year-old star in Boston, and a new column from Howard Beck of Bleacher Report indicates that Ainge has held strong to that commitment during Rondo’s stellar start when speaking to other teams around the NBA.

Rival executives say that Ainge has been firm in his stance that Rondo will not be dealt. But many of those same executives believe that Ainge has to trade Rondo, to avoid losing him for nothing next summer. “They’re definitely bravely saying they won’t trade him at this point,” said one general manager, who nevertheless added, “I definitely think it’s the right thing to trade him. I think Danny knows it.”

Boston.com – Report: Celtics Have Told Other Teams They Are Not Trading Rajon Rondo

This report came out a few days ago, but it seems to have gotten kind of brushed aside for whatever reason. Disregarding all of the stories we hear, I tend to believe this approach, and that Ainge isn’t truly interested in calls inquiring about Rondo. I know it’s his job to listen to all trade offers (though there may not even be that many), but it seems like the benefits of having Rondo here would outweigh any lame trade package we’d get back, and Danny’s realized it. With the Kings overachieving, it’s likely they’ve lost interest, and besides them, there isn’t a team in the league that needs Rondo and can offer something worthwhile in return. If Danny is planning on offering Rondo the max this summer then fine…then it makes sense he’s not interested in trading him. But even if the intention is to offer a take-it-or-leave-it contract, having Rondo here for a year to help accelerate Smart’s game plus getting near $20mil in cap space would probably better than any offer we’d get in return for Rondo.

Page 2: Speaking of Rajon, would we actually every see ‘Hack-a-Rondo’?

Every now and then teams will resort to Hack-a-Dwight Howard tactic because like O’Neal, Howard struggles from the free throw line.

Is Hack-a-Rondo next?

One NBA scout thinks so.

“What’s he shooting, 30, 35 percent? You don’t go into a game wanting to do it, but at the very least you can count on teams thinking about it,” the scout said. “A lot depends on how the game goes, obviously. But if it’s close and you need a possession and they (Boston) have the ball, why wouldn’t you foul him?”

CSNNE – Hack-a-Rondo coming?

He’s shooting horribly from the free throw line, but I think we’re far from seeing opposing teams send Rondo to the line intentionally. Even if RR’s never been a good free throw shooter, I think most of us know he isn’t nearly as bad as this season’s free throw percentage suggests (currently 33%). Funny to consider, but Rondo is actually shooting much better from three-point land, at 40% on the season. If anything, that goes to show that a ten game sample size really isn’t indicative of Rondo’s shooting ability. That being said, a few hundred extra reps can’t hurt…

And finally, seven Grizzlies have a stomach virus…

Seven members of the Memphis Grizzlies now are dealing with a stomach virus, and their status is uncertain for Friday’s game with the Boston Celtics.

The Grizzlies announced Thursday that guards Tony Allen, Courtney Lee and Beno Udrih, forwards Jon Leuer and Jarnell Stokes, center Kosta Koufos and guard/forward Quincy Pondexter all are ill and are questionable for the Boston game.

ESPN Boston – Seven Grizzlies have stomach virus

Always wondered how other players feel when a guy like Kobe Bryant plays a regular season game while sick with the flu. Yeah, it’s your job to play basketball, but there’s so much contact that it seems impossible to not spread a virus around throughout the course of a game. Which is why it’d be cool if those seven guys just took the weekend off…

The rest of the links:

Grantland: How the Rockets became the new Bad Boys

ESPN: Rivalry with LeBron ‘misunderstood’

CelticsBlog: Brad Stevens hints at potential lineup changes