Author Topic: Do Pierce and KG look for greener pastures if this poor play becomes the norm?  (Read 2648 times)

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Offline TripleOT

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The Cs have 24 games until the trade deadline.  If they go 9-15 in them, for example, would KG and Pierce think about finishing out their careers on a team with a legitimate chance for a title? 

I'd like to think that both players would prefer to go down with the ship, fighting till the end, but they're both winners who deserve better than to waste their final years on a middling team. 

Would KG agree to finish up in Chicago for Thibs?  The Cs could ask for Taj Gibson, the rights to Nikola Mirotic, who projects to be a very good NBA player, and Rip Hamilton and Kirk Hinrich for money ballast to make the trade work.  The Bulls would also get Wilcox and Barboza. 

Chicago ends up with a big rotation of KG, Noah, and Boozer, the best big grouping in the league, and can use Barboza and Wilcox at the end of their rotation.  Assuming Rose comes back, a line up of KG, Noah, Deng, Rose and Belinelli, with Boozer, Jimmy Butler, Barboza or NateRob and Wilcox would be a good one.  The Bulls could bring in a buyout wing at the deadline to shore up the roster. 

Boston adds a young big in Gibson and a great prospect in Mirotic.  This trade could bring in some other teams to ship Rip and Hinrich elsewhere for expiring deals and picks. 

Pierce would have to go to a contender who is close to a title.  OKC could send Kevin Martin and his expiring deal, along with Jeremy Lamb and a pick.  Pierce would give OKC a more versatile scorer who plays defense and has championship experience.  Pierce should similarly benefit from playing on such an offensively talented team (Martin shooting 47% from 3, 9% higher than his career mark of 38%.  PP is a career 37% from 3). OKC would get two years of Pierce to run at the title.  They'd be in tax hell next year, but would be at around the same payroll if they re-signed Martin to close to what he's earning now.   

Lamb has great upside as a prospect, and Martin could  either be shipped in this deal to a team that needs him this year, or re-signed/S and T-ed in the summer.

This year's roster as they play out the string after the Feb 21 deadline:

PG:  Rondo, Hinrich ($4m/1 year remaining -or someone more useful/expiring)
SG: AB, Martin (expiring), Jet, Rip (or someone more useful, $5m team option next year)
SF: Green, Lee, Lamb
PF: Gibson, Bass
C: Sully, Melo, Collins

With Mirotic coming next season. 

The Cs would have a young core of Rondo, AB, Gibson, Sully, Melo, Lamb, Mirotic, Lee and Green, which is pretty good. Ainge can clear out Hinrich, which should be easy, Terry, and Bass in the summer.  Or Ainge could combine a young asset or two with one or two of the vets to bring in an all star level player.

The key to the deal is if Mirotic and Lamb can become big time NBA players. For financial reasons, Mirotic probably won't extricate him from his Spanish team until the fall of 2013, but he's a Dirk like player who opened a lot of eyes when he played NBA teams in the pre-season.  Big upside there.

Lamb is young, but should become an excellent defender who can also shoot and score.  He would benefit tremendously by getting minutes with a great set up PG like Rondo.     

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Nah, I think both guys will ride it out here.

Finishing his career in Boston with the team he has always played for will be a point of pride for Paul Pierce at this late juncture in his career.

And Garnett, well, he never wants to leave. Never wants to give up. You'd have to cajole him and push him and find a way to talk him into going somewhere else before he'd even consider it.

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Not sure it is worth it for Chicago or Oklahoma to make those deals.

They are giving up some pretty good long term pieces for a pair of very old players.

Offline gpap

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Did you guys watch the game last night? Not so much KG, but I think Paul Pierce is a BIG part of the problem.

His body language sucked last night. I can't seem to figure out why Paul Pierce can never seem to do "no wrong" and gets a free pass.

I am telling you, deal him to LA for Gasol.

And for those who say "oh I don't want to see Pierce in a Lakers uniform"....blah, blah, blah.

Offline TripleOT

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Not sure it is worth it for Chicago or Oklahoma to make those deals.

They are giving up some pretty good long term pieces for a pair of very old players.

Chicago would have to decide if they want to win the title this year and next. They would be a very formidable contender with KG.  Theoretically, they can get the same kind of assets in the future by again drafting wisely in the late first round.  Mirotic won't sign there until the 2013-2014 season. The Bulls could be trying to threepeat by then if they go all in for KG.

OKC would have to make the same decision about going all in now.  Pierce would be dynamite on that talent laden roster, and would give them veteran leadership they desperately need.  Derek Fisher provided some last season, but he was horrible on the court.  Pierce can provide that leadership on court and off.   

Offline nickagneta

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If the Celtics trade them, they are gone. They don't have a choice but to play elsewhere.

If the Celtics decide to keep them even though the team becomes a losing team, again, KG and Pierce have no say in whether they want to play here because they have a contract to fulfill.

They can look all they want for greener pastures, it really doesn't matter because they signed contracts and Danny Ainge will be the one that determines where they play.

Besides, KG and PP aren't Carmelo, Howard, Paul or one of those young whiners that would force their way out of town now, at this point in their careers. They got more class than that bunch.

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Not sure it is worth it for Chicago or Oklahoma to make those deals.

They are giving up some pretty good long term pieces for a pair of very old players.

Chicago would have to decide if they want to win the title this year and next. They would be a very formidable contender with KG.  Theoretically, they can get the same kind of assets in the future by again drafting wisely in the late first round.  Mirotic won't sign there until the 2013-2014 season. The Bulls could be trying to threepeat by then if they go all in for KG.

OKC would have to make the same decision about going all in now.  Pierce would be dynamite on that talent laden roster, and would give them veteran leadership they desperately need.  Derek Fisher provided some last season, but he was horrible on the court.  Pierce can provide that leadership on court and off.   

If I am Chicago, I am not considering any all-in trade until I have seen Derrick Rose and know what kind of shape he is in this season. Whether Rose will be dominant enough to lead a team to top of the pile. Since Rose isn't expected back until after the All-Star break, that means I am not doing any trade like this until next summer.

I think I'd rather stand still if I am Oklahoma. They are setup to compete long term for titles. For the next 7-10 years. If they take on Pierce, they have no way of replacing him two years from now. Not convinced that short term boost is worth it.

If I am Oklahoma, I am much more interested in Kevin Garnett (as a center alongside Ibaka) than I am in Paul Pierce (Durant). Maybe there is something there with Garnett instead of Pierce. KG would give them a much larger upgrade.

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If the Celtics trade them, they are gone. They don't have a choice but to play elsewhere.

If the Celtics decide to keep them even though the team becomes a losing team, again, KG and Pierce have no say in whether they want to play here because they have a contract to fulfill.

Garnett has a no-trade clause.

It sounds like Pierce vetoed his trade to New Jersey last year. I think he is effectively able to veto any trade too by refusing to report. I can't see any trade to a non-contender going through with Pierce fighting against it. If it's a contender, I think Pierce will go. Begrudgingly, but he'll go.

Offline Celtics18

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There's no way that either Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett are going to want to bail on this team just because they are struggling.

They want to fight through this. 

DKC Seventy-Sixers:

PG: G. Hill/D. Schroder
SG: C. Lee/B. Hield/T. Luwawu
SF:  Giannis/J. Lamb/M. Kuzminskas
PF:  E. Ilyasova/J. Jerebko/R. Christmas
C:    N. Vucevic/K. Olynyk/E. Davis/C. Jefferson

Offline pearljammer10

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Where are they going to go?

They both have 2 and 3 year deals. One has a no trade clause and one is slowly becoming a top five name in celtics history.

Offline Birdman

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Both wants to retire a Celtic
C/PF-Horford, Baynes, Noel, Theis, Morris,
SF/SG- Tatum, Brown, Hayward, Smart, Semi, Clark
PG- Irving, Rozier, Larkin

Offline hpantazo

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They will retire as celtics, is just a matter of how much longer they will play. Either they retire at the end of this season, next season, of the year after.

Offline Clench123

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Nah...KG is not that type of player

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Offline nostar

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I don't care for all of the certainty in this thread. Pierce has blatantly said he wants to be a free agent in the past 6 months. KG has a no trade clause but that doesn't mean he can't be traded.

Also I think it would be silly to think that neither of these two highly competitive players would want to win another title for their careers.

I had a post a few days ago in the blowup thread about trading KG and Pierce. My idea was KG to OKC for Perk, Lamb and maybe the pick they got from Houston for Hardin. The reason we ask for the pick is because we're taking Perk back.

Anyway let's stop with all of the certainty. No one knows what will happen.

Not sure it is worth it for Chicago or Oklahoma to make those deals.

They are giving up some pretty good long term pieces for a pair of very old players.

It's worth it if they win a championship, which for OKC is definitely in reach this year. Chicago would have to play for next year probably but losing Asik and Watson really messed up their depth. They need to make moves to stay in the race with Miami for sure.

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I had a post a few days ago in the blowup thread about trading KG and Pierce. My idea was KG to OKC for Perk, Lamb and maybe the pick they got from Houston for Hardin. The reason we ask for the pick is because we're taking Perk back.
I like this trade a lot better for OKC.

Except I don't think OKC gives up the lottery pick from Toronto (via Houston). It's too valuable. I do think a Perk + Lamb package for Garnett is a workable trade for them. Maybe with Jason Collins also heading to OKC alongside Garnett to give them another big body behind Thabeet since Perk is leaving.

A big short term upgrade for OKC at a small cost to their long term future.