<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">In the onrushing tide of the Celtics [team stats]? hope for a winning ticket in the NBA draft lottery, Paul Pierce [stats] is a lonely swimmer fighting the undertow. While Greenhearts take each loss as a step toward Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, the captain is advocating a detour from Secaucus. Let?s make a deal: Pierce would rather the Celtics deal than draft. ?I know how people are thinking with us maybe getting a high pick and all that, but I really don?t look at it like that,? said Pierce. ?I don?t put my faith in the draft. I don?t count on landing the No. 1 or No. 2 pick, which everybody is hoping for. It?s hit or miss either way, whether you make trades or whether you draft. Everything is a gamble. ?My thing is to go out there and play every night and for guys to develop and get better. I want the guys we already have to get better. Everything else is a gamble, and if you really want to get better, I think you have to do that through trades and through veterans. ?I?ve never seen a team grow just from draft picks. If you look at all the guys we have, they?re all first, second, third and fourth-year guys. You?re not going to be able to financially keep everybody.? But wouldn?t a defensive force like Oden allow the Celtics to take a quick and quantum leap forward? ?It sounds good,? Pierce said. ?It sounds really good. In a perfect world, hey, that would be great, but as we all know, it?s not a perfect world. You can?t bank on that with the lottery. The chips got to fall where they may, brother.? </div> http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/vi...rticleid=181104
That's a misleading title and I didn't pick up where he said the Celtics should trade their pick. All I read was that he's telling people to scale down their expectations about the draft, because, between the lottery and the unpredictability of every prospect, there's no guarantee that they'll get an impact player. And he followed that by saying that Boston needs to get some veteran help (which is true), but didn't really say that they should trade their pick for it. Can't help but agree with him.
I could see why he would want to trade the pick. He's getting older and the team wants to rebuild. It would be better for Pierce to get some vetern help rather than add another young player on the squad.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's a misleading title and I didn't pick up where he said the Celtics should trade their pick. All I read was that he's telling people to scale down their expectations about the draft, because, between the lottery and the unpredictability of every prospect, there's no guarantee that they'll get an impact player. And he followed that by saying that Boston needs to get some veteran help (which is true), but didn't really say that they should trade their pick for it. Can't help but agree with him.</div> So you're saying this : <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">?Those guys who could be in the draft look great, but I just think making a deal might be more realistic for us,? he said.</div> isn't enough to make you believe he wants to trade the pick?
Not really. I got the impression that he was just telling people to scale back their expectations or at least consider other alternatives. As opposed to something like Vince Carter explicitly saying he'd rather trade Bosh for a veteran player, Pierce never really stated his preference. He just gave his 2 cents about this situation.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Not really. I got the impression that he was just telling people to scale back their expectations or at least consider other alternatives. As opposed to something like Vince Carter explicitly saying he'd rather trade Bosh for a veteran player, Pierce never really stated his preference. He just gave his 2 cents about this situation.</div> Exactly. We've seen many a team bank on a draft and end up with nothing....there have been many busts...not saying Oden or Durant would be a bust, but they might get the third pick...then what?
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Not really. I got the impression that he was just telling people to scale back their expectations or at least consider other alternatives. As opposed to something like Vince Carter explicitly saying he'd rather trade Bosh for a veteran player, Pierce never really stated his preference. He just gave his 2 cents about this situation.</div> Well I disagree. I think he made it clear that he would rather trade the pick. Either way, I don't think Pierce realizes that Ainge has been trying to trade away the young players for veterans, but he hasn't gotten a decent offer. How many teams out there would be willing to part with proven vets for unproven young players? I bet teams want to get their hands on Jefferson, but why would we get rid of him at this point? Other than that, the rest of the younger players on our rosters haven't done anything very impressive with the time they've been given, so the only veteran help another team might be willing to trade would be veteran talent with bad contracts. I would certainly be in favor of the right deal, but I don't think it's going to present itself anytime soon. We're pretty much at the point of no return right now, and we have to develop our own talent while collecting a supporting cast by the means available to us. If we end up with a top 2 pick in this draft, I think it would be a really bad move to trade it away because in all likelihood, whatever we were to receive in return from a deal would not be as valuable to us. The draft this year is our best shot at gaining another superstar player on the roster. In my opinion, Pierce's comments have more to do with himself than the franchise. Sure, if they mortgaged the future right now (considering the reality of what they would actually get), they may become an average to above average team for the remainder of his career, but in the long run, it'll only set the franchise back in terms of youth and roster flexibility for years to come.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Not really. I got the impression that he was just telling people to scale back their expectations or at least consider other alternatives. As opposed to something like Vince Carter explicitly saying he'd rather trade Bosh for a veteran player, Pierce never really stated his preference. He just gave his 2 cents about this situation.</div> Well I disagree. I think he made it clear that he would rather trade the pick. Either way, I don't think Pierce realizes that Ainge has been trying to trade away the young players for veterans, but he hasn't gotten a decent offer. How many teams out there would be willing to part with proven vets for unproven young players? I bet teams want to get their hands on Jefferson, but why would we get rid of him at this point? Other than that, the rest of the younger players on our rosters haven't done anything very impressive with the time they've been given, so the only veteran help another team might be willing to trade would be veteran talent with bad contracts. I would certainly be in favor of the right deal, but I don't think it's going to present itself anytime soon. We're pretty much at the point of no return right now, and we have to develop our own talent while collecting a supporting cast by the means available to us. If we end up with a top 2 pick in this draft, I think it would be a really bad move to trade it away because in all likelihood, whatever we were to receive in return from a deal would not be as valuable to us. The draft this year is our best shot at gaining another superstar player on the roster. In my opinion, Pierce's comments have more to do with himself than the franchise. Sure, if they mortgaged the future right now (considering the reality of what they would actually get), they may become an average to above average team for the remainder of his career, but in the long run, it'll only set the franchise back in terms of youth and roster flexibility for years to come. <div class="quote_poster">norespect Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Exactly. We've seen many a team bank on a draft and end up with nothing....there have been many busts...not saying Oden or Durant would be a bust, but they might get the third pick...then what?</div> Pierce proposed that the Celtics wait until the offseason to make a move. At that point, we would know our position. If we get the 3rd pick, then its a whole different story. But trading away a top 2 pick this year would be stupid.
