Great deal for Pierce...He gets $5+ Million and a great shot to start on a playoff team...He can also opt out after one year. So, in his mind he's probably thinking - Start on a young playoff team, drive my value up and then go back out on the market a year from now with the cap up and a ton of teams with space looking to improve with a number of franchise changing FA's available.
I never saw Pierce coming back this year to the Celtics, why would he? Unless the C's were able to finish a number of trades that made them a playoff team. I remember DA on T&R a couple of months ago when he was asked about Pierce coming back...He didn't really "jump" at the idea. Ainge handled it like someone who wasn't interested in that option. At. All.
But, with Pierce's ability to option out after year one, I now believe the chances of a Pierce return to Boston has improved. The Celtics youth will have another year under their belt, they'll have a good amount of money coming off the books to use and Pierce at one year older could be more open to coming off the bench. Maybe next year is the Derek Jeter/Mariano Rivera like story for The Truth, who comes back home for one last run in front of his fans. At least, that's how I'd write the story, ha.