Now is not the right time for Celtics and Paul Pierce to reunite
COMMENTARY
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Paul Pierce isn’t retiring.
Yes, the forward was both emotionally and physically exhausted following another long 83-game grind (including the playoffs) after his Wizards were ousted by the Hawks on May 15. Pierce was also frustrated and probably in disbelief watching his 3-pointer to force a Game 7 deemed too late by less time than it takes to pump-fake, even if it was the right call.
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So, he said some things.
“I don’t even know if I am going to play basketball anymore,’’ Pierce told reporters following the completion of his 17th NBA campaign, during which he averaged career-lows of 11.9 points, nine shots, and 26.2 minutes a game. “These seasons get harder and harder every year, every day. Summers get even harder when you start getting back in shape. I’m 37 years old. I’m top two or three oldest in the league.’’
Pierce was actually the ninth-oldest player in the Association this season – his brief Washington teammate Andre Miller, 39, led the pack, but you get the veteran’s point: He’s old, and now he’s feeling the creaks in his knees.
No one would blame Pierce for hanging up his kicks, but it won’t happen. A guy like that doesn’t hit the winning shot one night (“I called game!’’), cockily call “Series’’ three nights later after another potential game-winner came within two seconds of holding up, and then have a third possibly series-defining shot waved off the next game only to walk away.
Paul Pierce will play next season. He has too much left in the tank.
And you know what else? Pierce will be Celtic again one day.
Maybe that’s when he is in the front office as some sort of special adviser to Danny Ainge. Maybe it will be when he signs a one-day contract before announcing his retirement. Perhaps, at some point, he will even wear the green again and help his former franchise try to win as an important piece off the bench before he decides to call it quits on a Hall of Fame career.
But, much as a hoard of fans and current Celts like Avery Bradley would love it, now is not the right time for Pierce to again call the parquet his palace. And that’s the truth.
Sure, emotionally, what could be better for a fan? One of the Celtics’ all-time favorite sons coming home after two years away and a tribute video that could not possibly contain 15 years’ worth of unforgettable memories would be just the news to make Boston sports fans forget about what may be another last-place season for their Boys of Summer.
Even if Pierce said, “Damn the dollars, Danny, bring me back to Boston,’’ it’s a wonder how well he’d fit beyond the Garden being the primary host of his farewell tour. There is a plan in place for Ainge and coach Brad Stevens to rebuild their franchise in its chase for Banner 18. Development and assembling the right collection of pieces do not involve a player who is 38 years old eating up to 25 minutes a night when those minutes, perhaps not in the short-term but most certainly in the long, are better served to go to players like Jae Crowder (provided he re-signs), James Young (provided he isn’t traded), and others who may not yet be on this roster. You’ll notice near 30-year-old’s Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green are only the most recent veterans to be shipped away, and Gerald Wallace will be next if anyone is willing to take on his bloated contract.
Frankly, the time is not right for Pierce either. There is a reason veteran NBA reporter David Aldridge recently attached his name to the Clippers and old coach Doc Rivers. That’s where Pierce belongs, not simply at home but with a contender. With a team where those heroics he showed throughout two playoff rounds this year and, maybe a third if he’d had a millisecond more, can be better utilized.
Pierce was forced to Brooklyn. Washington is young and talented, but not quite ready yet, unlike teams like the Clippers and a handful of others with which Pierce would make a defining addition. He can still shoot (he matched his career mark by hitting 44.7 percent of his shots from the field in 73 regular-season games last year, and his 38.9 percentage from 3 was the best it’d been since 2009-10; and that’s before he drilled 52.4 percent of his treys during the playoffs, far and away the best in the NBA among players with at least 30 attempts). He is still confident; borderline arrogant. He’s certainly not afraid of the big shot. All attributes key for a team a piece or two away from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
The Celtics, as currently built, are several pieces away. With four picks in the upcoming June 25 draft, several first-round selections over the next several seasons, trade exceptions and other moveable assets, and loads of cap space, they have the resources to change that overnight. Alas, for now, we are forced to live in reality.
The Cavaliers, for as long as they have Kevin Love and maybe even without him, will be a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference . The Bulls are right there as well. The 2014-15 Celts relied on heart for what they lacked in talent, but they were still 40-42 and swept out of the postseason. They were a playoff team by virtue of playing in a lousy conference. Everyone knows that, most especially the gang on Causeway Street.
Pierce is an emotional favorite around these parts for all the right reasons but the long-time captain would not suddenly jump the Celtics up the ranks of the East. Moreover, he does not necessarily fit Stevens’ vision. The coach’s teams are ideally about spacing the floor and pushing the tempo on offense and aggressive defense. Not Pierce’s attributes in the twilight of his career, even if his 3-point touch could aid a team that landed fourth-worst in the league in that department at 32.7 percent. Still, there’s a danger his legs could slow the pace too much.
There’s no doubt Pierce would be a valuable addition with regard to mentoring the C’s youth, as he’s enjoyed doing with John Wall and Bradley Beal in our nation’s capital, but even the pseudo assistant coach in him isn’t ready to start letting players he deems inferior start ahead of them while he’s waving his towel from the bench. With all but 10 of 1,408 career games spent on the floor when the action tips, he’d rather be ready to respond when his number is called for a contender. It will take a certain opportunity for him to put his competitive ego aside.
Pierce holds a $5.5 million player option for next year with the Wizards. It’s possible he’ll view that deal – and the food that would come along with it – as the financial incentive to try to wrap up some unfinished business. Or he’ll take his business elsewhere. Clubs will line up to sign him.
As Pierce acknowledged in mid-May, he’ll take some time to let his body heal and then sit down with his family and decide on the next chapter, undoubtedly with the laser-like focus he displays in isolation. Eventually the pages will flip forward to Boston for the conclusion but, with respect to his playing career, it may be more like an epilogue.
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