SHOULD Pierce retire a Celtic? (Poll)

[dark_lord]

yes, absolutely.

pierce is a celtic and his numbers put him in the elite of the franchise's history.

in an age of free agency and players not staying with the same team for their entire career make it even more special.

seeing pierce retire as celtic and having #34 in the rafters, for me personally, would be as special as seeing another championship

[wdleehi]

No.


If the Celtics are rebuilding next year and Pierce wants the chance to play for another ring, I have no issue Celtics moving him to a location that agrees to never, ever send him to the Lakers. 

[Chief]

Nope. It is imperative to me that the Celtics stay a championship level team. If trading Paul can do that, I'm all for it. Same for Ray and KG.

[Roy H.]

Nope. It is imperative to me that the Celtics stay a championship level team. If trading Paul can do that, I'm all for it. Same for Ray and KG.

In my mind, there's no realistic way the Celtics are going to be able to stay a championship contender in the immediate future.  We're most likely going to have to go through some fairly brutal rebuilding years. 

As a fan, I'm fine with putting that off for an extra year so that Pierce can retire as a Celtic.

[ACF]

yes, absolutely.

pierce is a celtic and his numbers put him in the elite of the franchise's history.

in an age of free agency and players not staying with the same team for their entire career make it even more special.

seeing pierce retire as celtic and having #34 in the rafters, for me personally, would be as special as seeing another championship

QFT.

[Marcus13]

I can't really say either way until I know what the rest of the roster is going to look like

[Chief]

Nope. It is imperative to me that the Celtics stay a championship level team. If trading Paul can do that, I'm all for it. Same for Ray and KG.

In my mind, there's no realistic way the Celtics are going to be able to stay a championship contender in the immediate future.  We're most likely going to have to go through some fairly brutal rebuilding years.  

As a fan, I'm fine with putting that off for an extra year so that Pierce can retire as a Celtic.

If a realistic chance presented itself, by trading Pierce, would you do it?

[pearljammer10]

I dont want to see Pierce traded no matter who or what we get in return. Celtic for life.

[Boris Badenov]

Unless trading PP brings back someone with at least the potential to be the best player on a championship team, I say no.

Keeping him isn't that costly - we'll have tons of cap room anyway, and probably have enough trouble filling that space with talent.

[Who]

Yes, he should. At this juncture of his career, given everything he has done for the organization, he should finish his career here.

However, I would be very tempted to trade Pierce for a young star-quality player if such a scenario presented itself. I wouldn't do it for anything less than a star. I do enjoy thinking about all of the possible trade-Pierce scenarios chiefly because he's the only member of the Big Three with good trade value.

As for the wording of the question, is it imperative to me? Absolutely not. I'd like to see it happen but it isn't imperative. I am happy enough to see Pierce finish his career in another jersey. I never though any less of Hakeem (individually or his connection to the Houston Rockets) for playing in Toronto or Jordan (ditto) for playing in Washington. Likewise, it wouldn't hurt my perception of Pierce's ties (career) to Boston.

I voted "yes" because of the title (should Pierce retire a Celtic) before I read the question (is it imperative to me) which would be a "no". No option available to change vote though.

[droopdog7]

To be honest, I am SHOCKED that the voting is as close as it is.

Wow.

I think it's just how the poll is worded that is generating the close numbers.  

MUST he retire a Celtic--no.  If there's an amicable split where he wants another shot at a ring elsewhere while we rebuild, that's ok.

Would it be PREFERRED if he retired a Celtic -- absolutely.  he is the face of the C's and will have is number in the rafters.  Preferably he plays his career here but it's understandable if he doesn't.  

As an example, does anyone think Dave Cowens is any less a Celtic great for finishing his career in Milwaukee?  no.

To be fair, I thought the poll is worded just right.  Of course, if we were asking about preference, this poll would be 100% in favor.  And we see that it is trending in that direction after the change. 

But by using the word, MUST, fans have to weigh the upside of keeping PP versus what it may cost the franchise to keep him. This is a much more interesting question.  Need to change the question to to the original.

[TheTruthFot18]

Who said no? Seriously 

[TheTruthFot18]

Nope. It is imperative to me that the Celtics stay a championship level team. If trading Paul can do that, I'm all for it. Same for Ray and KG.

In my mind, there's no realistic way the Celtics are going to be able to stay a championship contender in the immediate future.  We're most likely going to have to go through some fairly brutal rebuilding years. 

As a fan, I'm fine with putting that off for an extra year so that Pierce can retire as a Celtic.

While they have the trading ability based on contracts, I dont see much interest in the big three for other teams for that reason. Pierce obviously the point here, he has multiple years left on his contract so a team would have to absorb that instead of signing a new contract like KG or Ray would.

At the end of the day this whole thing is a business where loyalty is thing of the past. But Paul like a Kobe, Dirk, Duncan etc. have loyalty to a club and the town that is rare and will most likely keep them where they are until the end.

KG and ray are up on their contracts which frees up a lot of FA money, so why not keep Pierce as our Captain and The Truth

[csfansince60s]

Who said no? Seriously  

I 'fess up. I did.

The question asks "is it imperative".

While I would like it very much, it is not imperative. What is imperative is making the Cs the best team that they can be.

If that means turning PP into a more valuable asset, so be it.

I greatly admire PP. I was praying on draft night that he would slip to us at 10, and when whoever was picking at 9 picked, and didn't pick PP, I was screaming to my son "the future is here".

I was praying the night that he was stabbed, reliving the Lennie Bias sickness in my head, saying oh no, not again.

I watched him get flattened in the Garden, landing on the floor on his face, losing teeth and coming back later to play in the same game.

I watched him in Indiana, after that playoff debacle and that pathetic press conference with that weird "sling" or whatever it was on his head and made excuses for him.

I watched him with pride as he finally "arrived"., hoisting that O'Brien trophy above his head.

His loyalty to this franchise is admirable, but not unquestioned. He would've bailed if Danny didn't make those moves to get us 17. He may not have wanted to, but he has so much admitted that he would've.

Same for me now. I wouldn't want him not to end his career here, but if the right deal came along, we gotta pull the trigger.

As our own Captain has said many times: it's about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.

[Q_FBE]

Keep Pierce around and make a manager out of him. DO NOT make the same mistake that we made with Larry Bird - who continues to keep Indiana on the NBA map.