Paul Pierce expected to re-sign with Celtics
Say it is so.
Duh. (Chris Forsberg)
Multiple sources close to the Celtics told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz that the team expects to re-sign Paul Pierce…
According to the sources, the Celtics expect the Pierce deal to be wrapped up sooner than later but Ray Allen could take longer into summer.
Expect whatever team signs Lebron to come banging down Allen’s door. Ray’s the perfect complement for Lebron. But all signs so far point towards everyone staying put. Doc and Danny are both saying they want one more year with “this group.” (ESPN & Yahoo)
“Doc is excited to come back and coach our team next year,” Ainge told ESPN.com. “He feels rejuvenated about coaching this group next season.”
It’s an interesting choice of words for Ainge to note “this group.” While it might be reading too deep, it sure seems to suggest Rivers will lead a group similar to the one he took onto the court for Game 7 of the NBA Finals earlier this month before letting Banner 18 slip away in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Lakers.
“With the blessing of my family, I want to try one more time with this group,” Rivers told Y! Sports.
Revenge on tap for next year? Yes please.
Related posts:
Celtics Blog, Featured | Jay King | June 30, 2010
Ray’s going to be the toughest one, there’s going to be a team that’s going to make him an offer that will be VERY tough to refuse. The C’s can match, since they won his bird rights and can pay him whatever they want. But I’m not sure they’ll go over 10mil/3 years. He completely disappeared after Game 2 of the finals, and you can only pay so much for a streaky spot up shooter who can’t create his won shot… even if he is one of the best ever. It’s just not worth it for the Cs to tie up 13mil on him. It will be interesting.
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I agree. There will be a nice market for Ray’s services. He’s the perfect guy to spot up alongside Lebron or D-Wade.
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I’m ok with giving Ray somewhere in the $13 mil range but only for 2 years. That way he and KG are up at the same time.
Paul has to be given priority obviously. He is the face of the franchise and the only real got-to guy on the team in crunch time.
If the C’s can get Shaq at around $2.5-$3 of the MLE, do a sign and trade of Sheed’s contract for Beasley, and J O’Neal (O’Neal would need to be resigned at around $2.5-$3 mil) Then they could use vet’s min on Gomes and Ben Wallace, then the rest of the MLE ($4 mil or so) for Mike Miller. Then we just resign TA on our Bird’s and we’ve got wing’s and bigs galore who can do the dirty work by committee.
We don’t neccessarily need a big time guy off the bench, just a GROUP of guys who can get it done defensively, not lose leads, give between 10-25 solid minutes depending on which guy, and score a reasonable amount of points a night while getting some rebounds.
If we can compile a bench that can give 10-15 minutes rest to each starter each game while giving a total of 20-25 points and 10-15 rebounds cumilatively, we will be set for a title run.
That really isn’t that much to ask. 4-5 guys who average 6ppg and 2-3 rbg is all we need, along with a couple guys to take the load until Perk gets back.
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I don’t know how I like the O’Neals. At this point, they’re walking corpses. But I agree that the C’s need a deep and solid bench. The bench this season was too up-and-down.
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Hey Jay, I love your site, it is very informative and you seem to always have the fresh insight to situations that ESPN lacks… I was wondering if you knew of other blogs, similar to this one that focuses on the Pats, Sox, or Bruins?
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Thank you so much. For Red Sox, I read Ted’s Army. For Patriots, Pats Pulpit. I don’t really follow the Bruins so I don’t know any blogs about them. Sorry man.
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Thanks for the info, keep up the good work!
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Thank YOU, and no problem.
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HUGE sigh! Even though we all knew this would happen. I guess 1 to 2 more years before the Rondo Era gets kicked into full swing. Maybe if we can wait till the lockout, we could sign a max agent after, and continue to contend for years.
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Yup. I’d love to see Rondo take the step to full-fledged superstar this season.
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