Paul Pierce dropped in draft since he was very picky

[grayjonv]

Paul Pierce dropped in the draft, as I recall, since he made it clear that there were a few bad teams he was not interested in playing for. 

Little did he know that the Celtics should have probably been on his list too based ont heir performance during his tenure until this year.

The Celtics were very interested in drafting Nowiski.

[Bankshot]

Do you have a link to that information?  I do remember that the Celtics were interested in Dirk, but I never heard anything about Pierce not wanting to be drafted by certain teams.  I do not believe that is the case, because I do remember that Pierce was upset at teams passing over him (which were lottery teams), so I doubt very seriously that he said he didn't want to be drafted by bad teams.

[NicaraguanFan]

Paul Pierce dropped in the draft, as I recall, since he made it clear that there were a few bad teams he was not interested in playing for. 

Little did he know that the Celtics should have probably been on his list too based ont heir performance during his tenure until this year.

The Celtics were very interested in drafting Nowiski.

I don't buy that. If Pierce wanted out bad teams, we would be in that list.

NF.

[crownsy]

Paul Pierce dropped in the draft, as I recall, since he made it clear that there were a few bad teams he was not interested in playing for. 

Little did he know that the Celtics should have probably been on his list too based ont heir performance during his tenure until this year.

The Celtics were very interested in drafting Nowiski.

link?

pierce has said multiple times that he's played his entire career with a chip on his shoulder due to teams passing over him.

never heard this story...

[pearljammer10]

Yea i dont buy that. Even if he was picky a team would have drafted him anyway, if he was unhappy they would have just used him as good trade value.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'd never heard the "bad teams" thing, either. 

I think most of us are familiar with Pitino's Dirk infatuation, though.  It would be interesting to see how much different things would have turned out if we'd be able to take him instead of Paul.

[johnnyrondo]

Pitino was sort of like Duquette. Smart guy, but got underneath people's skins. Pitino was a pretty good judge of talent.  He was right about Dirk. Pierce was a great pick. Billups was a great pick (Pitino didn't have the patience as coach to wait though. Neither did Denver, Orlando, or Minny for that matter). I remember Pitino offering 3 first rounders for J. O'Neal back when he was on Portland during that useless Moiso draft. Pitino made a nice deal bringing in a young Tony Battie. I think Pitino brought in Bruce Bowen and Adrian Griffin as well. Pitino had his faults, but he was pretty good at judging talent. Patience and cockiness was his downfall here.

[Chris]

Pierce dropped because other teams overthought it, or drafted for "need".

The only guys who at the time were real head scratchers over Pierce were Traylor, Jason Williams, Larry Hughes, and Nowitski.  But all of the teams were clearly just shooting for the stars with those picks rather than going for Pierce, who was kind of the "safe" pick.

[moskqq]

Pierce dropped because he was considered a "tweener" and a scorer without great athleticism.  Pierce didn't have especially good handles, was not considered a great passer and was thought to be too small to finish inside.  He was considered a post-up shooter.

What we now see is a greatly improved, all around talent who bears little resemblance to the 10th pick in the draft.  When Pierce wasn't taken in the first 9 picks several teams desperately tried to engineer a trade with the Celtics.  While Dirk was their first choice the Celtics were still pleased that Pierce fell to them.  I never heard any reference to his being "picky" but he was visibly upset that he fell from a projected "top three" pick.

[Brendan]

Pierce didn't fall to number ten because he had flaws and then improved later to make the pick bad. Complete revisionist history. I remember thinking holy crap we either get this crazy German guy who's supposed to be awesome or Paul Pierce! Maybe my mind is gone - but I'd like to see some links to contemporaneous reporting supporting the notion that Pierce didn't drop and only later improvements make it look that way.

[nickagneta]

Pierce dropped because he was considered a "tweener" and a scorer without great athleticism.  Pierce didn't have especially good handles, was not considered a great passer and was thought to be too small to finish inside.  He was considered a post-up shooter.

While some of that is true, Pierce also was plagued with the tag of mentality soft as when the biggest game of the year came up, he disappeared, namely his horrendous showing in the NCAA tournament that year.

With LaFrentz and Pierce, the Jayhawks were favorites to breeze through the regionals and straight through the Final Four to a title. But Pierce was a no show for that second round game against Lamar Odom and Rhode Island and it cost his reputation big time.

That's why Pierce was so driven to prove the teams who passed him over were wrong. They questioned his heart more than they questioned his skill and it ate at him terribly.

When Pierce wasn't chosen second in that draft the announcers were shocked. When he wasn't chosen third they were more shocked. And so on it went with the announcers constantly questioning why he wasn't being selected and always referencing that KU/URI game.

Until I see a link telling me otherwise, that is what I remember about the whole incident. And I remember it like it was yesterday because after the Duncan draft lottery fiasco, I thought Pierce dropping into our laps at 10th was the beginning of a turnaround in Celtic luck and history. How little did I realize that I was right but that that luck wouldn't pay ultimate dividends for 10 years. But at least Pierce got to have the last laugh over Odom.

[kozlodoev]

Actually this rumour might not be completely baseless. I found this:

Almost immediately after Pierce began dropping, rumors spread around the league that he had poor training habits and that his postseason workouts had been lackluster. (Nuggets general manager Dan Issel had called him a terrific scorer who "might be a little soft" shortly before the draft.) Yet Pierce fell mainly because 1) he had told the Raptors, choosing No. 4, and the Kings, picking No. 7, that he didn't want to play for them, and 2) he didn't fit the needs of the other teams with choices high in the order.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/weekly/980706/nba0706/a.html

In retrospect, Dan Issel made himself look like a fool. Paul Pierce? Soft? Heh. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but that's another issue

[Roy Hobbs]

Actually this rumour might not be completely baseless. I found this:

Almost immediately after Pierce began dropping, rumors spread around the league that he had poor training habits and that his postseason workouts had been lackluster. (Nuggets general manager Dan Issel had called him a terrific scorer who "might be a little soft" shortly before the draft.) Yet Pierce fell mainly because 1) he had told the Raptors, choosing No. 4, and the Kings, picking No. 7, that he didn't want to play for them, and 2) he didn't fit the needs of the other teams with choices high in the order.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/weekly/980706/nba0706/a.html

In retrospect, Dan Issel made himself look like a fool. Paul Pierce? Soft? Heh. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but that's another issue

Interesting.  I can see why he wouldn't have wanted to play in Canada.  Why not Sacramento, though?

[Bankshot]

Actually this rumour might not be completely baseless. I found this:

Almost immediately after Pierce began dropping, rumors spread around the league that he had poor training habits and that his postseason workouts had been lackluster. (Nuggets general manager Dan Issel had called him a terrific scorer who "might be a little soft" shortly before the draft.) Yet Pierce fell mainly because 1) he had told the Raptors, choosing No. 4, and the Kings, picking No. 7, that he didn't want to play for them, and 2) he didn't fit the needs of the other teams with choices high in the order.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/weekly/980706/nba0706/a.html

In retrospect, Dan Issel made himself look like a fool. Paul Pierce? Soft? Heh. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but that's another issue

Interesting.  I can see why he wouldn't have wanted to play in Canada.  Why not Sacramento, though?

Destiny?

[cooleststan]

Paul Pierce dropped in the draft, as I recall, since he made it clear that there were a few bad teams he was not interested in playing for. 

Little did he know that the Celtics should have probably been on his list too based ont heir performance during his tenure until this year.

The Celtics were very interested in drafting Nowiski.

I don't buy that. If Pierce wanted out bad teams, we would be in that list.

NF.

Well, looks like the OP was right:

1) he had told the Raptors, choosing No. 4, and the Kings, picking No. 7, that he didn't want to play for them

so u better buy it