I would not be against the trade...However Paul Pierce is the best Celtic since Larry Legend and i can't see us trading away our MVP...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jerry West:</div><div class="quote_post">No. If they were truly bottoming out Paul Pierce would be gone, and so would Raef LaFrentz. Boston are middling, not bad enough to rebuild properly (through numerous lottery picks), not good enough to do anything good.</div> Perk, Jefferson, West will all be better than many lottery picks turn out
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting olskoolFunktitude:</div><div class="quote_post">Perk, Jefferson, West will all be better than many lottery picks turn out</div> I'm sure the teams building around Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul etc. wouldn't swap their franchise guys for all three of those guys. Obviously some lottery picks fail, but in general, having consecutive lottery picks goes a long way to turning a franchise around. Wouldn't it be nicer this year to get a Rudy Gay or LaMarcus Aldridge rather than a Josh Boone or Shelden Williams?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jerry West:</div><div class="quote_post">Wouldn't it be nicer this year to get a Rudy Gay or LaMarcus Aldridge rather than a Josh Boone or Shelden Williams?</div> Yes (mostly yes) and no (a little teeny weeny no). Yes because the combined talents of Rudy Gay and LaMarcus Aldridge will far exceed those of Josh Boone or Shelden Williams, but let's not count out Boone's hustle, Williams' tenacity, and the fact that they will be hungry come their rookie seasons, while at the very least, Rudy Gay has had an easy go of stardom and monstrous expectation. Shelden Williams is about as bright as a lamppost (and it shows), but he will be relatively inexpensive (probably for his entire career), and he will care about contributing. That's a lot more than I can say for any Celtic center of recent memory (save our new Man Perk). As for Josh Boone, I will not complain about his game, and I can see him caring about winning an awful lot more than his field goal percentage, and that's a BIG plus in my book. This guy has had a taste of success, and he'll want more throughout his career, and you can't demand that kind of drive out of a player, he just has to have it. Let's not also count out the financial contribution from both groups. Those lottery picks can be expensive, and I don't suspect Gay or Aldridge will be any different, but those role players, when chosen carefully and shrewdly, can add up to a whole lot, and using don't cost nearly their output. I guess I still feel the whole concept is about ROI, and so far, I've seen more Return from veteran groups that click EXTREMELY well than I have out of the flashy youngsters who are extremely marketable and fun to watch. Detroit and San Antonio don't sport those incredibly flashy faces or games, but those vets REALLY know how to play. And that's to their credit. I haven't seen LeBron or DWade or Carmelo or even KG win as much as Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Manu Ginobili (who is beginning to border on that kind of stardom), Elden Campbell, Lindsey Hunter, or even Darvin Ham.
