Pierce might want out next year

[dwayne celtic]

i wonder who started this stupid topic, why would pierce want out when the team just got younger and more competitive for years to come, and why would he want out when he was a clear advocate of the C's resigning KG, obviously he wants to retire with KG 

[Jon]

Hopefully this will lower the sentimentality among some fans who would be offended with him being traded or cut.

But that's not the issue.  To me, the whole trade or cut Pierce issue is much like the "cap space for 2012" issue leading up to this summer.  In a general sense, it sounds great, but when you actually have to get specifics, it doesn't work. 

Right now the Celtics are built to contend this year.  Trading Pierce this year would hurt their chances.  If he continues to perform very well, the team should continue to contend, and thus trading him isn't a smart move.

If he drops off, he isn't going to be worth much anyway.  So like we've already found out with the Big Three, there will then be no market for him.  Furthermore, not picking up his option next year does nothing for the team.  They won't have cap space and any value he might've had will go away. 

I'm with you on sentimentality, but I also don't think there's really a beneficial way to get rid of Paul Pierce prior to the end of his deal. 

[mctyson]

I dont get these players. He wants to see what being a free agent feels like. Why?

Because it is hard to go out on someone else's terms, either retiring or being traded, or not being resigned to the team you want to play with.

It is a blow to a player's ego.

[Kane3387]

Hopefully this will lower the sentimentality among some fans who would be offended with him being traded or cut.

But that's not the issue.  To me, the whole trade or cut Pierce issue is much like the "cap space for 2012" issue leading up to this summer.  In a general sense, it sounds great, but when you actually have to get specifics, it doesn't work. 

Right now the Celtics are built to contend this year.  Trading Pierce this year would hurt their chances.  If he continues to perform very well, the team should continue to contend, and thus trading him isn't a smart move.

If he drops off, he isn't going to be worth much anyway.  So like we've already found out with the Big Three, there will then be no market for him.  Furthermore, not picking up his option next year does nothing for the team.  They won't have cap space and any value he might've had will go away. 

I'm with you on sentimentality, but I also don't think there's really a beneficial way to get rid of Paul Pierce prior to the end of his deal.

If pierce was traded it wouldn't be this season unless it's a no brianer situation.

[guava_wrench]

Hopefully this will lower the sentimentality among some fans who would be offended with him being traded or cut.

But that's not the issue.  To me, the whole trade or cut Pierce issue is much like the "cap space for 2012" issue leading up to this summer.  In a general sense, it sounds great, but when you actually have to get specifics, it doesn't work. 

Right now the Celtics are built to contend this year.  Trading Pierce this year would hurt their chances.  If he continues to perform very well, the team should continue to contend, and thus trading him isn't a smart move.

If he drops off, he isn't going to be worth much anyway.  So like we've already found out with the Big Three, there will then be no market for him.  Furthermore, not picking up his option next year does nothing for the team.  They won't have cap space and any value he might've had will go away. 

I'm with you on sentimentality, but I also don't think there's really a beneficial way to get rid of Paul Pierce prior to the end of his deal.

My point was how we shouldn't get so sentimental when considering trading players. My point was NOT that there will be trade opportunities for Pierce -- though there might be.

There is an obvious trade scenario. If KG gets hurt and the team is dying on the vine, and then a contender offers a good package for Pierce to get them over the hump this season, loyalty and sentimentality should not be a big issue.

[Clench123]

Paul Pierce has always been a drama queen.  What he said was totally unecessary.  I love him as a Celtic and what he meant to the team but sometimes...

[billysan]

For me, it really boils down to this:

If, with this reloaded roster, the Celtics are relevant and make it to the ECF or NBA Finals this season then Pierce and KG stay for another run at it. The Money takes care of itself in these situations.

If Pierce and/or KG are seriously hurt or feeling irrelevant on an underachieving team that is a 7-8th seed going into the playoffs then they get real serious about leaving/retiring and the money still doesnt really matter.

Both guys still have enough ego and pride to feel a need to be relevant. If they find themselves on the bench in favor of a younger player? Neither likely to accept gracefully for the good of the team. Tough situation for Doc and Danny.

[Roy H.]

TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!!! BENEDICT PIERCE!!!!   JUDAS FALSE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!

Or not.

[arambone]

These guys just love the limelight.

Pierce wants to be a free agent so he can watch people talk about him on espn and debate where Pierce wants to go.

Lebron relished in "The Decision", and most of the other stars probably looked on with envy at the attention Lebron was getting.

Dwight Howard wanted that attention so much he failed to learn the lesson from Lebron's Decision.

Pierce wants to sit there with a smirk and tell reporters that Memphis is a great franchise, but he's also taking a trip to Phoenix and LA, and then he'll say something kind about Boston.

Whether or not he'll give that interview from a wheelchair, with a bandage on his head, I cannot predict at this time.

[cman88]

honestly, I think this is much ado about nothing....right now this team is built for deep playoff runs the next 3 years...and as long as Garnett is here Pierce is not going anywhere

hes basically telling wyc..."pick up my player option for the last year of the deal"

[33_Larry Legend_33]

I'm an unabashed Larry Bird fan.  I'll fully admit I don't enjoy today's NBA all that much, though my heart is still with the Celtics.  I follow this team, read this blog, but I can also change the channel during a game.  In the Bird era I ate, drank, slept Boston Celtics basketball...

...with that said, it's Pierce making a quote like this that only makes me pause with regard to my respect for him.  Pierce is someone that I WANT to like, but for some reason, he just doesn't have that appeal to me.  This quote, I believe, is the underlying reason. 

"I am a Celtic" looks nice when he's doing a commercial shoot, but I really wonder, deep down, where this guy is coming from.  Sorry, but if Pierce left tomorrow, the truth is I could care less....

[Celtics18]

Hopefully this will lower the sentimentality among some fans who would be offended with him being traded or cut.

It won't "lower [my] sentimentality" towards Paul Pierce one bit.  I want to see the captain retire as a Boston Celtic.  I never want to see him wearing anyone else's jersey.

I still think we've got a pretty good shot of seeing that happen.