I was and still am totally against blowing it up. I was all for reloading, but once Doc left I knew Pierce was going to be moved and KG probably wasn't far behind (either Clippers or retirement).
But what Ainge did was a best-case scenario given what was undoubtedly going to happen. He could have moved Pierce anywhere, even a non-contender, and KG could have called it a day. We could have seen Pierce rotting miserably on a bad team as his career winds down, and possibly KG's last game ever.
Now, even though the wound is still fresh for both us fans and the two players (side note: how ecstatic did Terry look? Lol... Smiling ear to ear the entire presser. I think he was extremely uncomfortable last year, for whatever the reason may be). But time heals all wounds. Paul and Kevin will be just fine when they start racking up wins and become the contender I expect them to be. Deron is one of the nastiest one-on-one players in the league and with those 4 shooters around him, he will have a lot of single man coverage. If they double, Kidd will teach him how to find his mates. They have size and depth. Half court offense and defense (AK47-Evans-KG front court?
). They have all the tools to dethrone Miami and any team that makes it to the Finals out west.
As for us Celtics fans, it may take longer to accept. Some on here seemingly did already, and good for them if they are being truthful to themselves. But like many on here - myself included - it will certainly take time. Will we need the closure of them returning that first game as visitors? Selfishly, as a person born and raised in Brooklyn, I will get to follow them even easier than I do the Celtics. So I will definitely be rooting for them to go all the way. I have accepted we are not going far this year (yes, I am pro-tanking, but that's for another thread), and I have no problem admitting I will be rooting hard for another team for the first time since becoming a Celtics fan back in 2002. But that first game that they return will be very difficult for any Celtics fan.
And I totally understand where Paul is coming from. He did as much for the Celtics as Dirk did for the Mavericks or even Kobe did for the Lakers (Lakers are rarely bad, and probably would have won multiple championships with Shaq and any other good SG anyway. The Celtics were completely irrelevant throughout the 90's prior to Pierce's arrival). Ainge was hellbent on sticking to his words that he would not make the mistake (which I disagree with) that Red made with the original Big Three. It is what it is.
Topic: Seeing Paul Pierce in a Nets uniform (Read 5398 times)