Woj: Celtics unlikely to buy out Pierce

[Celtics4ever]

One of the Cleveland bloggers was talking on twitter about how much Celtics fans would hate if Pierce went to the cavs.  I told him I really wouldnt care and I think he doesnt really have a guage on wear celtics fans stand right now.  Would you guys be mad?

My heart (my emotional side) hates seeing PP go, but my mind (rational side) knows it is time.  Cleveland fans are clueless most of the time.   You would be too if you lived near the Mistake on the Lake.   I lived in only for 40 years and the only thing we excelled at was political bell weather stuff.

[Rondo2287]

Here is his timeline

Conrad Kaczmarek‏@ConradKazNBA13h
Lm aooo. Imagine Pierce requests a trade to the Cavs to play for a winner? Celtics fans would be sick

Techs‏@41Techs13h
@ConradKazNBA LOL. Celtics fans could care less about the Cavs I assure you. Kyrie will be out of there as soon as he can, no real threat.

Conrad Kaczmarek‏@ConradKazNBA13h
Rondo gets hurt and leaves a solid playoff team; recovers, comes back and just sees a barren wasteland around him

Conrad Kaczmarek‏@ConradKazNBA13h
And then Rondo averages half as many assists without all the help he's used to. Kidding! (Mostly)

Then after I said nobody would be that upset he responds with

Conrad Kaczmarek‏@ConradKazNBA12h
@KJC2287 lol okay. like 3 months ago it was all "he's a celtic for life!! we can beat miami!"

I think he is just an arrogant troll when it comes to the NBA, I only follow him because he also writes for the BC SBN blog.

He never responded to this tweet though.

Kevin Conway‏@KJC2287
@ConradKazNBA honestly, I think it would be awesome if the truth could help finally bring a championship to Cleveland

[LooseCannon]

One of the Cleveland bloggers was talking on twitter about how much Celtics fans would hate if Pierce went to the cavs.  I told him I really wouldnt care and I think he doesnt really have a guage on wear celtics fans stand right now.  Would you guys be mad?

I wouldn't be thrilled.  I don't want to see Pierce traded, but if he is, I'd like to see it to a contender.

You basically have a choice between seeing Pierce sent to a better team with fewer assets or a worse team with better assets.

Probably the closest to a win-win scenario is sending Pierce to a team that missed or barely made the playoffs last season which he won't single-handedly put over the top, but which he can help become a team that wins more than 50 games if a couple of other things (a solid free agent or trade acquisition, a young player developing as planned or ahead of schedule) also happen.

[BleedGreen1989]

One of the Cleveland bloggers was talking on twitter about how much Celtics fans would hate if Pierce went to the cavs.  I told him I really wouldnt care and I think he doesnt really have a guage on wear celtics fans stand right now.  Would you guys be mad?

I wouldn't be thrilled.  I don't want to see Pierce traded, but if he is, I'd like to see it to a contender.

You basically have a choice between seeing Pierce sent to a better team with fewer assets or a worse team with better assets.

Probably the closest to a win-win scenario is sending Pierce to a team that missed or barely made the playoffs last season which he won't single-handedly put over the top, but which he can help become a team that wins more than 50 games if a couple of other things (a solid free agent or trade acquisition, a young player developing as planned or ahead of schedule) also happen.

Excellent point that I think some people overlook when discussing Pierce deals.

[Jon]

Yeah.  There doesn't seem to be much benefit other than to save money by buying him out.  Clearing Pierce won't put us in the run to be major free agent players.

The smarter move seems to be to hold onto him, see what we can get at the deadline, and then worst case, clear his money for next summer (by letting him expire) for the FA crop of 2014. 

[hardlyyardley]

The Pierce to Cleveland makes complete sense....pick up two assets (31 and 33) and a trade exception

Folks....we are not contenders just pretenders

[celticinorlando]

Don't they have to do something by June 30th?

[LooseCannon]

Yeah.  There doesn't seem to be much benefit other than to save money by buying him out.  Clearing Pierce won't put us in the run to be major free agent players.

The Celtics need to dump salary to be eligible to do a sign-and-trade.  Ainge doesn't seem inclined to give another team a pick to get them to take the contract of Terry or Lee, so waiving Pierce may be the only way he has a shot at doing a sign-and-trade for a player such as Paul Millsap or Josh Smith.  His problem is he has to decide on waiving Pierce before he is allowed to negotiate with free agents.

[saltlover]

One of the Cleveland bloggers was talking on twitter about how much Celtics fans would hate if Pierce went to the cavs.  I told him I really wouldnt care and I think he doesnt really have a guage on wear celtics fans stand right now.  Would you guys be mad?

I wouldn't be thrilled.  I don't want to see Pierce traded, but if he is, I'd like to see it to a contender.

You basically have a choice between seeing Pierce sent to a better team with fewer assets or a worse team with better assets.

Probably the closest to a win-win scenario is sending Pierce to a team that missed or barely made the playoffs last season which he won't single-handedly put over the top, but which he can help become a team that wins more than 50 games if a couple of other things (a solid free agent or trade acquisition, a young player developing as planned or ahead of schedule) also happen.

Or a team competitive team that has a lot of bad contracts and is in a sticky situation with the luxury-tax/apron, or really thinks they have a shot at one of the summer's big free agents, and is willing to part with assets in exchange for that relief.  His contract alone can take back over $21 million in contracts back if traded by the end of the week.  When you consider that most salaries increase from year to year, that could really be $23 million in salaries for next year.  Even eating Pierce's $5 million when releasing him could be enough to get a team's payroll very far down, so that they can add cap flexibility to make a better team for next year, while at the same time saving money.  Granted, there aren't many teams this applies to, but there are some, and that should have real value.

[droopdog7]

Buying Pierce out makes little to no sense. You will find a trade partner for him willing to give up something of value. I'd believe Woj on this one more than Aldridge.

It makes some sense if it helps the Celtics lower their payroll enough to:
A) Use the full MLE on a player
B) Do a sign-and-trade (which you can't do if it will put you over the apron)
C) Avoid playing the repeater luxury tax, so that ownership is more willing to spend more money in 2014-2015 if next season can be a bridge year between windows

Exactly.  In fact, if PP is released, it's going to be because of point C. 

[MBunge]

I would think Pierce would only be bought out as an attempt to get KG to either retire or waive his no-trade clause and as a precursor to Ainge seriously trying to trade Rondo and Green.

[CoachBo]

One of the Cleveland bloggers was talking on twitter about how much Celtics fans would hate if Pierce went to the cavs.  I told him I really wouldnt care and I think he doesnt really have a guage on wear celtics fans stand right now.  Would you guys be mad?

I wouldn't be thrilled.  I don't want to see Pierce traded, but if he is, I'd like to see it to a contender.

I wouldn't be thrilled, either - especially if the return is only draft choices, given Ainge's spotty draft record.

But if there's a TE involved ...

[D.o.s.]

One of the Cleveland bloggers was talking on twitter about how much Celtics fans would hate if Pierce went to the cavs.  I told him I really wouldnt care and I think he doesnt really have a guage on wear celtics fans stand right now.  Would you guys be mad?

No I wouldn't.

Send him to a team with a budding superstar PG and a host of talented young players. It's not like sending him to Charlotte.

What was his rationale?  Certainly no C's fans see the Cavs as rivals, the only such complaints I've heard about a possible deal with Cleveland is that it would be unfair to stick Pierce in Cleveland.

(The NBA is a business and IMO for $15M Pierce can put up with a few weeks in any American city.)

I think Cleveland fans still think its a rivalry?

The same way that every middling West Coast team has a 'rivalry' with the Lakers.

[pearljammer10]

Buying Pierce out makes little to no sense. You will find a trade partner for him willing to give up something of value. I'd believe Woj on this one more than Aldridge.

Yeah I don't really understand this at all either. Pierce is still a top twenty asset. There is no way that anyone can tell me that he isn't still valuable to the celtics or any other contending teams in the league.

Top twenty scorer with an expiring deal coming off a 19, 6, and 5 year... You don't just let that walk away.

[edwardjkasche]

Unless Ainge is BLOWN AWAY by a trade proposal before this Thursday's draft, KG and Pierce will be on this team until the trade deadline.

He'll re-shop them at the trade deadline and see if a contender is willing to give up a few first round picks.