Michael Pietrus just punched his ticket out of Boston, if his agent is to be trusted.  Pietrus’ agent, Bill McCandless, told Ben Rohrbach of WEEI that Pietrus will not sign for the veteran’s minimum:

“MP will not play for the veteran’s minimum. Period,” said McCandless. “It’s not happening. That’s the beginning, middle and end of that. … He is not a veteran’s minimum player. There’s no chance he’ll ever sign for that.”

According to McCandless, Pietrus has already received much better offers from another NBA team and a club overseas. The most the Celtics could offer is the bi-annual exception starting at $1.95 million, but I don’t see why they would spend that valuable money on Pietrus, who would be nothing better than an insurance policy for Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, and the other wings ahead of him in the rotation.  Danny Ainge would be better off spending the bi-annual exception on a frontcourt player who can contribute with defense and rebounding.

Pietrus was a valuable player for the Celtics last season until he sustained that vicious concussion and returned at less than full strength, while also dealing with a knee injury. While his defense was valuable, Pietrus shot just 22.2% on three-pointers in the playoffs. Pietrus was a happy-go-lucky guy who helped build up his teammates and the locker room environment, and, in that capacity, he will certainly be missed.