Here's To Pierce!!! He is Unprecedented for This One!!!

[Birdbrain]

Not to mention but recent reports by the Herald and Globe upon his official signing have the last year as a mutual option, meaning he or the Celtics could opt out. This could well be just a three year deal.

Pierce saved this team tens of millions of dollars over the length of this contract. Possibly as much as $50-60 million when luxury tax concerns and the possibility not having to pay his last year is all thrown in their.

thats nice but the year that matters is 2012.  so wed hafta convince a FA to come in 2012 play a bad season with us and hope that when pauls contract is over next year that we can sign someone.  if it was up going into the 2012 season then we could sign 2 FAs or trade kg/ray for a star and sign a major FA.  because of paul we can only do one of those things....unless pauls contract is used to trade for a star

Why would we bad in 2012, pure speculation?  You have no clue what the roster is going to look like in 2012.  You have no clue who will want to sign in 2012.  You have no clue what rookie danny just drafted or will draft prior to this mythical 2012 FA bonanza that might have the roster even more talented.  I'm worried about 2010 and w/o Paul we weren't winning THIS year. 

[k.diddy]

Not to mention but recent reports by the Herald and Globe upon his official signing have the last year as a mutual option, meaning he or the Celtics could opt out. This could well be just a three year deal.

Pierce saved this team tens of millions of dollars over the length of this contract. Possibly as much as $50-60 million when luxury tax concerns and the possibility not having to pay his last year is all thrown in their.

thats nice but the year that matters is 2012.  so wed hafta convince a FA to come in 2012 play a bad season with us and hope that when pauls contract is over next year that we can sign someone.  if it was up going into the 2012 season then we could sign 2 FAs or trade kg/ray for a star and sign a major FA.  because of paul we can only do one of those things....unless pauls contract is used to trade for a star

Why would we bad in 2012, pure speculation?  You have no clue what the roster is going to look like in 2012.  You have no clue who will want to sign in 2012.  You have no clue what rookie danny just drafted or will draft prior to this mythical 2012 FA bonanza that might have the roster even more talented.  I'm worried about 2010 and w/o Paul we weren't winning THIS year. 

you're right about all that you've said.  the way i see it though is that a gm isnt just worried about this year hes got to have foresight.  in chess u dont just make a move now and stop...u plan ur current move and work it into a long term plan.  2012 doesnt need to be a FA bonanza we just need one or two good FAs.  Since dwight is a possibility, we should DEF be going for it.  i agree we need paul this year but i think we could get him this year without hurting our shots at a FA (or just some cap flexibility) in 2012. maybe u disagree and to u this year is more important than the future...in that case fine the signing was great.  but the fact still remains that pierce makes more than lebron wade and bosh and their skills are increasing while pierces are doing the opposite.

[Birdbrain]

Not to mention but recent reports by the Herald and Globe upon his official signing have the last year as a mutual option, meaning he or the Celtics could opt out. This could well be just a three year deal.

Pierce saved this team tens of millions of dollars over the length of this contract. Possibly as much as $50-60 million when luxury tax concerns and the possibility not having to pay his last year is all thrown in their.

thats nice but the year that matters is 2012.  so wed hafta convince a FA to come in 2012 play a bad season with us and hope that when pauls contract is over next year that we can sign someone.  if it was up going into the 2012 season then we could sign 2 FAs or trade kg/ray for a star and sign a major FA.  because of paul we can only do one of those things....unless pauls contract is used to trade for a star

Why would we bad in 2012, pure speculation?  You have no clue what the roster is going to look like in 2012.  You have no clue who will want to sign in 2012.  You have no clue what rookie danny just drafted or will draft prior to this mythical 2012 FA bonanza that might have the roster even more talented.  I'm worried about 2010 and w/o Paul we weren't winning THIS year. 

you're right about all that you've said.  the way i see it though is that a gm isnt just worried about this year hes got to have foresight.  in chess u dont just make a move now and stop...u plan ur current move and work it into a long term plan.  2012 doesnt need to be a FA bonanza we just need one or two good FAs.  Since dwight is a possibility, we should DEF be going for it.  i agree we need paul this year but i think we could get him this year without hurting our shots at a FA (or just some cap flexibility) in 2012. maybe u disagree and to u this year is more important than the future...in that case fine the signing was great.  but the fact still remains that pierce makes more than lebron wade and bosh and their skills are increasing while pierces are doing the opposite.

I totally agree with you but, Paul is special and IMO should be afforded the right to depreciate.  No one else besides Rondo is under contract after 2012.  So while Paul might hold us back slightly it's really not that big of deal especially when you take into consideration we have no idea what will actually happen between now and then. We got within a couple minutes of winning it this past year and I understand a lot people don't think we can get there again.  It's totally logical to be concerned with our age and injuries but, do realize how hard it is to actually get to Finals?  I think some people are going to be in for a rude awakening when the big 3 move on.  You might be right and we could gotten Paul to take less of contract but, I have a hard time believing he would have taken a 2 year contract with a lockout looming.  He doesn't see himself in Ray Allen's league and rightfully so in my book. 

[nickagneta]

Not to mention but recent reports by the Herald and Globe upon his official signing have the last year as a mutual option, meaning he or the Celtics could opt out. This could well be just a three year deal.

Pierce saved this team tens of millions of dollars over the length of this contract. Possibly as much as $50-60 million when luxury tax concerns and the possibility not having to pay his last year is all thrown in their.

thats nice but the year that matters is 2012.  so wed hafta convince a FA to come in 2012 play a bad season with us and hope that when pauls contract is over next year that we can sign someone.  if it was up going into the 2012 season then we could sign 2 FAs or trade kg/ray for a star and sign a major FA.  because of paul we can only do one of those things....unless pauls contract is used to trade for a star

In 2012 we will have Pierce, Avery next year's first round pick and Rondo on the books. That's probably about $29 million if salaries are not scaled back after the lockout. That is going to be enough for one max level free agent at the very least. Thing is, in 2012, the free agents available that year are awful. The cap flexibility will be better to make trades for existing contracts than it will be to soign a free agent and as long as they have about $20 million in cap flexibility, then the will be fine.

In 2013, there is a much better free agent class and if the Celtics decide not to pick up that last year of Pierce's contract, they will probably have a lot more flexibility. The fact is the money saved this year and next will more than pay for Pierce's 2012 year while still maintaining cap flexibility in 2012 and 2013.

Max cap flexibility and room for two max level free agents? No.

But as New Jersey and other teams have found out, having room for two max level free agents doesn't necessarily mean you get two players who are worth max level free agent contracts

[nickagneta]

BTW Dwight Howard, Gerald Wallace, Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Josh Smith, Kevin Martin, Andrew Bynum and those guys don't become free agents until the summer of 2013.

The summer of 2012 free agent class is headed by Carmelo Anthony, Chris Kaman, Andray Blatche, Goran Dragic and such. In order for Howard and Williams and Paul to be free agents in 2012 the have to opt out of their contracts and that would be stupid in a new CBA when they may actually have to take a pay cut because the max salaries have been rolled back due to the new collective bargaining agreement.

[action781]

Nicely mentioned about the class of 2013 Nick.  I had always thought 2012 was the big one because of melo and CP3 being reportedly inclined to opt out and sign elsewhere along with Durant (gone now), Oden, Hibbert, Gordon, Mayo, Beasley and some others (although not all of them are unrestricted I realize).  You're mentioning of the new CBA makes me realize that the big FA's probably won't opt out in 2012 and there are some other studs to go along that make 2013 the more promising offseason.

I also agree that I don't want to clear the books for 2012 or 2013 and set myself up for a NJ or NYK like fall.  To be able to compete for a championship is a rarity and we can compete right now, so I want to take advantage of it.

I agree and disagree with some of the posters here on various points.

he screwed us by killing our cap when kg and ray leave.  in 2012 were gonna be paying paul over $15million!!!  thats more than rondo!  hell thats more than wade bosh and lebron.  how did he not screw us? were in so much cap trouble in the next years that we refused to sign tony to a 3 year $9.7million deal.  thats ludicrous.  ill bet ray left close to 20 million on the table....lebron and bosh did. wade left almost 30!!! so get off pauls jock...i know hes our home town guy, i know he brought us a banner, but lets be unbiased and talk about how he screwed us over in 2012 and beyond. if he wanted to help us he would have not opted out and taken his huge payday then taken a big pay cut and let us work his contract to give us flexibility in 2012.  thats what my hometown hero would have done

I believe Lebron and Bosh left 9-10 million on the table and Wade left about 12 million on the table.

How did Paul "screw" us?

He opted out to take less money.  At that point, the team could 1) sign him to a below-market deal, or 2) move on.  They willingly chose to sign him for a discount.

Paul saved Wyc something like $16 million this season in salary and luxury tax, which can potentially be reinvested in the team.  I don't see how Pierce can in any way be portrayed as greedy.

I've said this before, but I don't think Paul opted out to "save Wyc money to be reinvested in the team".  If that were the case, he would have signed for considerably less than what he did.  I do realize that the fact is true that Wyc saves about $16 million this season.  But lets be serious, Paul wasn't thinking about that upon his resigning.  Otherwise, he would have said, "Wow I could save Wyc even more to reinvest in this team if I sign for 4 years 48 million (Welcome back, Tony).  I think that's enough to feed my family on top of what I've already made in this league."

No, Paul sat down with his agent and said, "Let's weigh our possibilities:
Option 1:  I think 4 years 61 million is very obtainable this offseason.  The celts have a ton of money committed already with good pieces in place, therefore need to compete this season and will have no choice but to resign me for that kind of money because they have no cap space to sign anyone else.  And it will look like a bargain compared to all the max deals that get thrown around this offseason.  If they are stupid enough to not pay me that, I can get make even more money and be grossly overpaid elsewhere (I think that's the "below market" situation you mentioned).
Option 2:  I can take my 21 million option this season.  Then next year I'll be 34 years old and starting the season at 35.  Hmm.  With a new CBA probably setting smaller contracts, I could be facing 3 years 30 million as possibly being the best I can get.  That would only total 51 million.  If there's a lockout, I'll be even more screwed at another year older forced to take even less.  Yeah, lets lock up that 61 million now."

• Do I think Paul "screwed" us?  No, that's not his responsibility to be concerned with the future of our franchise.
• So, did he help our financial situation?  Certainly yes this season, certainly no for the following 3.
• Was his opt-out really him signing for "less money"?  No, in fact he's probably making more.
• Was he greedy?  I wouldn't say that, but closer to there than self-less.  I think if he asked for 5-10 mil more, the celts would have said "No" and he really wants to stay a celtic so signed for as much as they'd give him.