Pierce unwanted? I want him!

I say we send the Celts our Trade Exception, Turbo's expiring contract and a peanut vendor for Pierce...

Do it NOW!!!

 

I blame Toronto and New Orleans for letting Vince Carter and Baron Davis go for peanuts. Ever since then people are expecting some crazy deals for expiring contracts (myself included).

gucci888-

Pierce needs 18-20 shots per game? Hardly. Check his numbers. This past season he took 14.9 fga per game. AND more importantly he shot a better percentage from the field, from 3 and at the FT line than T-mac. Wesley had 9.2 fga per game last year for us. And Mike James had 10.8 shots per game on only 25.6 mpg.

Give Pierce all of Wesley's shots, and half of James' and there you go, he doesn't take any shots away from Yao or T-mac. In fact if Pierce is shooting like he did last year, then I wouldn't mind him grabbing a few shots away from T-mac.

People that say that PP is a limp-wristed chucker are truly selling him short. If you check how he did last season, his efficiency went way up after they brought back Walker to take some of the load off. Pierce's shots went down, but his shooting percentages went way up.

The question isn't whether Pierce is worth his salary. The bigger question is whether Pierce is worth his salary and taking on another big salary like Raef Lafrentz. Personally, I say yes because I sincerely believe adding PP makes us a top title contender (top 2-3 in the league). And once this team with marketable stars goes deep into the playoffs, the team will be able to pay for itself.

 

I'd love to have Pierce. I can't see us getting him though.

Pierce isn't half the cancer that some people here seem to think. He's the best player on his team. By far. He's supposed to take a lot of shots. He also plays hard and plays good defense.

The problem is - he wouldn't average 20+ points per game on the Rockets. That's McGrady's job - and Pierce plays a similar game. He'd have to be a secondary scorer who can be a primary scorer when McGrady is on the bench. He'd also have to accomodate Yao in the post at times.

Still, we'd have easily the best swingmen combination in the league.

 

one of the major concern for last season was we never had a reliable third scorer. im not saying that PP is worth the money or if he demands too many shots, but he will def be that reliable third scorer. i also feel we can probably find someone a lot cheaper and effective as well. i dont know...i just hope these expiring contracts give us something we need.

 

According to that gimp Chad Ford from ESPN Insider:

Pierce to the Blazers?
By Chad Ford

CHICAGO – The Chicago predraft camp officially got under way Tuesday night with 64 prospects playing their hearts out in scrimmages in front of hundreds of NBA scouts and executives.

The action was fast and furious on three different courts for an hour and a half, but serious scouting won't begin until today, when individual drills and actual games start.

That meant that the name of the game Tuesday night was rumors. Lots of them. Some good, some not so good.

Insider talked to dozens of NBA executives and scouts to get the latest scuttlebutt. Here's what we're hearing.


• The most interesting draft rumor flying around this weekend had the Blazers and Celtics talking about a deal that would send Paul Pierce to Portland for the No. 3 pick in the draft and Nick Van Exel.

On Tuesday, Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge shot that rumor down, telling Insider it was "ludicrous." Ainge said he had no intention of trading Pierce, especially for a draft pick.

Still, it's an interesting idea.

Van Exel has a team option on his contract this year. That means the Celtics could trade for his $12.7 million contract, and essentially waive him without owing him a penny. In other words, the Celtics would get the draft pick and cut their cap by more than $13 million (Pierce makes a little more than Van Exel).

It's obvious why the Blazers would do it. Adding an All-Star like Pierce at the two would be a major upgrade. If Portland could find a veteran point guard in free agency to back up Sebastian Telfair, it could be back in the playoff mix next year.

The Celtics also have motivation to do a deal like this. Pierce is unhappy. The Celtics don't sound like they're bringing back Antoine Walker and Gary Payton (both are free agents) next season, which is only going to make matters worse with Pierce.

By not re-signing Walker and Payton and by trading Pierce, the Celtics could accomplish a couple of things.

First, by making the move, Boston would be around $10 million under the cap going into the summer. That would allow Ainge to be aggressive on the free agent market. The Celtics would love to have a long, athletic shot blocker like Samuel Dalembert, Tyson Chandler or Stromile Swift. They would have enough cash to be a contender for one of these players by trading Pierce.

Second, the Celtics would be in a position to draft a potential superstar such as North Carolina swingman Marvin Williams or Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul. One of these two should be on the board at No. 3. They'd also retain their No. 18 pick in the draft.

While making these moves would likely mean the Celtics slip a little in the standings next year, Ainge would be putting together a pretty awesome long-term foundation for the Green. Both Paul and Williams have the potential to be superstars. Al Jefferson looks like he could be an All-Star someday. Delonte West and Tony Allen also appear to have bright NBA futures.

The downside of the deal is just as troubling. Ainge would be trading a proven star and scorer for potential and cap room. Given how lopsided the trades of Shaquille O'Neal, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady have looked in hindsight, you can understand the hesitation.

 

I thought Nike debunked this scenario. That you couldn't trade a guy with a team option and then he gets waived for no cap hit because you need to pick up the option before you trade him. I have heard that this worked with guys that have non-guaranteed contracts (I think there is a difference), but not team options. Do the cap experts have the scoop on this one?

 

ainge: "hold on a second... paul wants to talk to you."
dawson: "ok?"

 

"I'm not going to make a skeptical of my career."

Best Interview Ever. (We are talking about the same thing, right?)

 

It's possible Van Exel is a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contract. Non-guaranteed is essentially the same as a team option so they often get reported as such. One recent example would be Charlie Ward - his contract had his deal becoming fully guaranteed in midseason in 2003-2004. The Knicks were going nowhere, so they waived him before having to pay him the balance.

This link suggests NVE's contract is a special case. Your print dialogue will open up if you click it, but it's the best I could find. http://www.oregonlive.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/olive_JohnCanzano/archives/print051279.html

 

tee-hee. yepperz. tonya harding interview on dan patrick discussing her boxing career.

sorry for the derail. carry on.

 

http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/view.bg?articleid=88769

Ainge KO's report of Pierce deal
By Mark Murphy
Friday, June 10, 2005 - Updated: 07:38 AM EST

One of the busiest weeks for the NBA rumor mill is at hand, and although Danny Ainge would prefer otherwise, he had no choice but to wrestle with the first official Paul Pierce [news] trade rumor yesterday.
``I'm just going to say what I've already said about it - it's ludicrous,'' the Celtics director of basketball operations, in Chicago, said of an ESPN.com report that he discussed trading Pierce to Portland for the No. 3 draft pick and guard Nick Van Exel. ``I don't know where this stuff comes from.''
Though Ainge declined to discuss the matter further, two league sources said yesterday that Pierce talk has been almost nonexistent across the league.
Though the Blazers are open to trading the No. 3 pick, their intent reportedly involves a possible pick swap with Charlotte, which has the No. 5 choice. The Bobcats, with their eyes on North Carolina freshman Marvin Williams, are also reportedly talking with Atlanta about the No. 2 pick.

 

http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/projo_20050618_18rencol.21e5c14.html

Bill Reynolds: The time is right for Ainge to cut ties with Pierce

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, June 18, 2005

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH:

The word is Paul Pierce will be moved this offseason, that the Celtics' owners want him out after his flameout in the playoffs.

And given Danny Ainge's new contract extension, the timing makes sense because the pressure no longer is on Ainge. Not now, anyway. A year ago, he would have taken major heat for trading Pierce. Not now. Not after Pierce turned off many Celtics fans with his behavior at the end of the sixth game against the Pacers. Scratch a Celtics fan now, and odds are they would love to see Pierce moved.

For this is Ainge's chance to continue to put his stamp on this team, to remake it in his own image, one that's more and more looking like that will not include Pierce.

 

I find it interesting that Pierce might get moved, but to where and for what? Will he get traded out west? Surely Ainge doesn't want to see Pierce four times a year. I'd be suprised if the Celtics got anything of value back for him.

 

That Portland deal of Van Exel's waivable contract + #3 for Pierce is pretty darn good for Boston. They're not going to be able to get fair value for Pierce, that's for sure. But maybe they would rather dump another big contract (Blount or Lafrentz) along with Pierce so that they can really start from scratch. Houston is one of the few teams with $20 million in expiring contracts. But does the Rockets management think it's worth it to take on all of that salary? If so then I think we got a decent shot at making a deal happen.

 

In all honestly, I would rather stay away from Pierce. Not just because of having 3 max contracts, but also because the kind of panic & scrutiny our organization would face if (God forbid) the team had some kind of meltdown or we lost in the 1st round again. The expectations would be very annoying and potentially damaging.

 

xiki -

You're concerned with the "pressure" of expectations if we sign Pierce? Really? There's already enough pressure if we don't get out of the first round in 05/06!! In fact, trading for PP would take the pressure off CD to make multiple move this off-season or god forbid, mid-season like he did last year. CD redeemed himself with me for his mastery last season, but I doubt any GM could have that kind of luck two years running!!

That said, I'm all for having Pierce in Rocket Red and White!! Give me the high class problem of being EXPECTED to achieve great things!!!

And with JVG doing his "every-Rain-man" thing, this team will always have a certain level of humility, and that in turn will temper the ego of any incoming prima dona's!!

(BTW, just as an aside, if there were any CC.net members concerned with a players sexuality, I would hope you'd keep that kind of BS homophobia to yourself, and in the closet where you belong!!)

 

Where the heck did this come from?