Should the Celtics Trade Pierce?

[Tai]

I've never really cared for Pierce...great scorer, but not much of a leader.  If Danny is going to keep this current team together and do nothing more, then we've probably witnessed Pierce win his one and only title.

If they dealt him I would be appreciative of his time as a Celtic, but I wouldn't miss him.

But the problem with this team is that Garnett is slipping into mediocrity and Ray is starting to show rust, so it's unlikely Pierce would ever be dealt anyway...

Right, so who do we trade Pierce for? I'm listening. 

[Andy Jick]

I've never really cared for Pierce...great scorer, but not much of a leader.  If Danny is going to keep this current team together and do nothing more, then we've probably witnessed Pierce win his one and only title.

If they dealt him I would be appreciative of his time as a Celtic, but I wouldn't miss him.

But the problem with this team is that Garnett is slipping into mediocrity and Ray is starting to show rust, so it's unlikely Pierce would ever be dealt anyway...

Right, so who do we trade Pierce for? I'm listening. 

funny...you singled out my post because i have the dissenting view of pierce. 

why would you ask me who i would trade pierce for?  i could care less and i don't know who they should trade him for.  i left my detailed list of player rankings and salary listings in my other briefcase... 

[dark_lord]

hell to the no!

[jr_3421]

No.  I'd prefer to see the Celtics fade into mediocrity and have Pierce retire a Celtic than trade him off for a slightly better chance at contending this year or next.

TP as well. I understand that this game is also a business and I would be open to trading ANYONE on the team for the right price but PP has stuck with Boston (even though he did complain a little bit) through the worst of times. He deserves to retire as a Celtic.

[xmuscularghandix]

From a personal standpoint I love Pierce and do not want to see him go anywhere.

If this season is a throwaway and you you have Allen's contract expiring then why not try to clear space and trade Pierce and take a stab at the Free agent market coming up this summer.

I would hate to see Paul go he is my favorite player I just wonder if this makes too much sense business wise and will make your franchise better in the future.

If we're going to do that why wouldn't we just trade KG instead...

[Tai]

I've never really cared for Pierce...great scorer, but not much of a leader.  If Danny is going to keep this current team together and do nothing more, then we've probably witnessed Pierce win his one and only title.

If they dealt him I would be appreciative of his time as a Celtic, but I wouldn't miss him.

But the problem with this team is that Garnett is slipping into mediocrity and Ray is starting to show rust, so it's unlikely Pierce would ever be dealt anyway...

Right, so who do we trade Pierce for? I'm listening. 

funny...you singled out my post because i have the dissenting view of pierce. 

why would you ask me who i would trade pierce for?  i could care less and i don't know who they should trade him for.  i left my detailed list of player rankings and salary listings in my other briefcase... 

Well, my bad. You did say it's unlikely Pierce would be traded anyways. I was just wondering if there was someone you had in mind that would let us not miss Pierce.

[Jon]

From a personal standpoint I love Pierce and do not want to see him go anywhere.

If this season is a throwaway and you you have Allen's contract expiring then why not try to clear space and trade Pierce and take a stab at the Free agent market coming up this summer.

I would hate to see Paul go he is my favorite player I just wonder if this makes too much sense business wise and will make your franchise better in the future.

  This season isn't a throwaway.

Exactly.  Even if things don't go well this season, and even if Ray walks, there's always a shot at landing someone pretty substantial at the MLE next summer.  Combine that with continued improvements from Rondo and Perk, plus a possible improvement in KG's health (many knee injuries take more than a year to fully heal) and even if things go horribly, we still could contend next year. 

And that's worst case.  Keeping Ray could also mean a return to our November/December form, which was pretty darn good.

[Onslaught]

As others have pointed out this is a business and I should use my head and not my heart and look at it that way. But I can't do that. I'm not from Boston, actually I've never even been to Boston in my 36 years of life. But I've been a Celtics fan for about 30 years now. And many reasons contribute to my love and loyalty to this one team. And one of those reasons is it's loyalty to players. I like how star players always knew they had a future and security playing for the Celtics. And how the organization seemed more like a family then others around the league. Now I'm fully aware that times have changes and things aren't run like in the old days. I understood that the real Garden needed to be replaced even if it killed me. I'll accept that the parquet floor was cut up and sold then replaced with a floor that looks just like it. Even if I still don't like it! But if we trade away out star player who's been with us for this long and loves playing for us then I'm not sure if I'd need to be a Celtics fan anymore.

[Cman]

No.
There are certain franchise players you just don't trade.  This is even more true for a storied franchise like the Boston Celtics.

[Steve Weinman]

No.  I'd prefer to see the Celtics fade into mediocrity and have Pierce retire a Celtic than trade him off for a slightly better chance at contending this year or next.

TP, I agree and I really don't care how unfair or illogical that sounds.

Well said, both of you.

-sw

[Tr1boy]

if thinking with brains than heart trading paul pierce aka 3 point champ and former mr 4th quarter for assets while decreasing salary for the rest of the team would be best

Getting back for example kevin martin or luol deng would be a great benefit for the celts. We also need to resign perk lets not forget.

Danny will not trade pierce nor allen unless we get an elite player which won't occur. He will ride out this final year and then not resign ray allen (or ask him to take a huge paycut to be a 6th man) and ask pierce to take a pay cut because honestly he doesn't deserve 15 plus million per season no more.

[BASS_THUMPER]

if we get a ring would paul be worth 15mil?

i wont go by how he is playin now we will make the playoffs and he should be able to step it up..

[Scalablob990]

If people consider the words "trade" and "Pierce" in the same sentence they need to re-read what Celtic pride is. (not slamming anyone or the OP, just expressing my belief) If I wanted a franchise that ships their life long stars outta town, I would've become a home town Knicks fan. I became a Celtics fan because it's a franchise that shows that rare loyalty most teams don't have to it's players.

If I lived in a mirror world and was a Lakers fan, I would say the same thing for them as well. The Celtics and Lakers are extremely loyal to their big name players.

[More Banners]

Over the years, the C's traded away Paul Westphal, Paul Silas, Cedric Maxwell (finals MVP, '81), and Danny Ainge (starter on championship team).  They each accomplished quite a bit in green, and were still in their prime in most cases (though Max had been injured).

We can certainly trade Pierce if the right deal for the team came along.

[Brickowski]

No.
There are certain franchise players you just don't trade.  This is even more true for a storied franchise like the Boston Celtics.

No there aren't lol.  Kareem and Wilt were both traded. So was Shaq (3 times).