# Pierce in line for extension



## Causeway (May 18, 2005)

*Celts want captain on board -- Pierce in line for extension*



> “It’s not just how great a player Paul is,” director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. “You have to look and see how he’s developed as a leader and how the young guys look up to him and follow him.
> 
> “We just want Paul to stay around, and I’ll sit down with him and his agent this summer to talk about an extension.”





> “There’s going to be a lot of things to think about,” Pierce said. “But I’m not really ready for all that yet. It’d be great to stay in one place my whole career, but in the back of every player’s mind, you have to be thinking about what it’d be like to be a free agent one time. Then again, you never know what can happen. I really shouldn’t talk too much about it until I really sit down and think about it. I just know this is going to be a big summer for me.”


A max deal would not really be much more than he's getting now. Plus Bakers contract coming off the books would cover the difference.


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## AMΣRICAN GOD™ (Jun 4, 2005)

I don't know about the MAX contract, but it couldn't hurt. With the season he's having this year, he should have one of the 5 largest contracts in the NBA.


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## P2TheTruth34 (May 25, 2003)

TAllen42 said:


> I don't know about the MAX contract, but it couldn't hurt. With the season he's having this year, he should have one of the 5 largest contracts in the NBA.


That would mean a max contract.


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## AMΣRICAN GOD™ (Jun 4, 2005)

P2TheTruth34 said:


> That would mean a max contract.


Um....shut up?


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

If they offer Pierce the max, it will be impossible to put a team around him.


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## ZWW (Jan 17, 2004)

Hmmm, it if was between letting Paul go or paying him max dollars, I'd pay up. Guys like him are too rare to come by in my opinion and this season he's lived up to the hype.


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

ZWW said:


> Hmmm, it if was between letting Paul go or paying him max dollars, I'd pay up. Guys like him are too rare to come by in my opinion and this season he's lived up to the hype.


A new max will give Paul around 14M per season and in the end end up at around 20 or so million. It would just ruin the team from getting good players around him.


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## P-Dub34 (May 19, 2005)

Isn't P getting the max already?


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

P-Dub34 said:


> Isn't P getting the max already?


Yes, it'll end at 16 million, and if I'm correct the new "max" would start at around 14 and make it's way up to 19/20 million.

Of course it's possible for him to take a pay cut and start at around 9/10 million per year and get his 10.5% increase, but I don't see him going from 16 million down to 9 after playing his best basketball ever.


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## Delontes Herpes (May 11, 2005)

aquaitious said:


> If they offer Pierce the max, it will be impossible to put a team around him.


just like it was impossible for the spurs to put a team around duncan with him making the max?

if you would like to see the celtics become the hawks, that's fine, but i personally would rather not see it.

he'll make twice as much as someone who's market value is $8 mill, but he will be far more valuable that twice as valuable.

it's a no brainer...the C's need to pay him whatever it takes to keep him around.


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

Delontes Herpes said:


> just like it was impossible for the spurs to put a team around duncan with him making the max?
> 
> if you would like to see the celtics become the hawks, that's fine, but i personally would rather not see it.
> 
> ...


No, just like it's impossible for the TWolves to put a competitive team around KG.

The last I checked, the Boston Celtics have one max contract and two near max contracts, to go along with 2/3 young guys who'll need 6-8 million (at least) dollar contracts in the next two years.

And please don't compare Paul Pierce, a dime a dozen guard, with a multi-MVP/Franchise/Champion big man.


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## Delontes Herpes (May 11, 2005)

the wolves haven't able to surround KG with adequate talent because their FO is incompetent

i'm not comparing pierce to duncan...just pointing out that the spurs haven't had much trouble putting an adequate supporting cast around him.

and please don't tell me that you seriously consider a top 20 player in the league to be "a dime a dozen"


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

Delontes Herpes said:


> the wolves haven't able to surround KG with adequate talent because their FO is incompetent


It's almost impossible when you don't have anything to work with. The Celtics have 2/3 young guys that are worth something, trading them away will not do anything. We cannot get what we need for them.



> i'm not comparing pierce to duncan...just pointing out that the spurs haven't had much trouble putting an adequate supporting cast around him.


It's much easier building around a big man than it is building around a guard. How many great big man do we have in the league right now that can lead their team to victory?



> and please don't tell me that you seriously consider a top 20 player in the league to be "a dime a dozen"


Just wondering, who are the other top 19 guys? Are 12 of them a SG/SF?


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## i_like_the_hawks (Feb 2, 2006)

i hope he gets signed to another team because the Celtics are farther away from contending than they have been in decades. wouldent you want the player who has done so much for your team go on and succeed? i know i would if the hawks had a player like him. Most likley though the Celtics will resign him and become the seattle sonics.


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## Delontes Herpes (May 11, 2005)

there are very few big men who you can build around in this league and unless they get lucky with oden, the celtics aren't getting one anytime soon.

a good portion of the top 20 right now are swingmen...and none of them come at a dime a dozen.

you need studs to succeed in the NBA...right now the celtics have one...take away pierce and they have none and a highly unimpressive roster.


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## Delontes Herpes (May 11, 2005)

i_like_the_hawks said:


> i hope he gets signed to another team because the Celtics are farther away from contending than they have been in decades. wouldent you want the player who has done so much for your team go on and succeed? i know i would if the hawks had a player like him. Most likley though the Celtics will resign him and become the seattle sonics.


no, i would like to see my team succeed.


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## i_like_the_hawks (Feb 2, 2006)

What if there was no hope of success? take the Hawks for example. When we get good players i always hope for them to get traded and have success. I enjoy watching them while they are in Atlanta but i dont want to see them continually suffer. know what i mean?


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## Delontes Herpes (May 11, 2005)

no.

you may enjoy it when your team is mired in misery, but i don't.


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## i_like_the_hawks (Feb 2, 2006)

I don't enjoy it. It's just the way it is. It's just a fact. It isnt going to change. You just have to be realistic about things. It's like Josh Smith and Marvin Williams are awesome and exciting players but i know they will end up in different uniforms.


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## P-Dub34 (May 19, 2005)

Top 20? Pierce has been a top 10 player in the A this year. He's no Duncan, but "dime a dozen?" You know better than that, aqua.


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## BackwoodsBum (Jul 2, 2003)

If he continues to play like he has this season I'd like to see him stay around. I think the C's have a good nucleus and are getting closer to competing every day. The key is how much he will want to stay. As good as he has played this year I don't think that the C's can afford to pay him the max and still hope to compete. If Pierce is serious about wanting to stay and if he wants to win more than he wants to pad his wallet then he could get a very fair contract without crippling the team. This year Pierce has shown that he is willing to put his ego aside to win. If he continues with that attitude I expect that they will agree on a contract fairly quickly and both sides will be winners in the long run. If the C's try to lowball him or if he demands a max contract then there's trouble.


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## P-Dub34 (May 19, 2005)

Why wouldn't P ask for the max? Anything less _would_ be lowballing him.


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

P-Dub34 said:


> Top 20? Pierce has been a top 10 player in the A this year. He's no Duncan, but "dime a dozen?" You know better than that, aqua.


Even in the top 10, most of the "top" players are going to play the same position as Pierce. Sorry, I just don't believe that any guard is worth 16 million.



P-Dub34 said:


> Why wouldn't P ask for the max?


To get a good team around him and compete?


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

Pierce is not going to take a discount.


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## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

Premier said:


> Pierce is not going to take a discount.


He probably won't, but then again, can anyone name the last wing player, making the maximum, to win a championship without a good supporting cast not named Jordan?


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Even Jordan had Pippen. Paul's had Antoine "Nothing but Rim" Walker and One-Legged Wally.


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## whiterhino (Jun 15, 2003)

Paul is easily a top 10 player this season
Top 10 not in any order
Duncan
KG
Nowitzki
Iverson
Kobe
Paul
Nash
Wade
McGrady
LeBron

Some people may have a different top 10 list but I would think Paul should be in all of them after the season he had this year and the leadership he displayed. He will get a max deal and I won't complain about it. Raef is the one we need to dump anyway we possibly can.


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

My random top-ten for this season:

Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
LeBron James
Elton Brand
Dwyane Wade
Steve Nash
Gilbert Arenas
Paul Pierce
Dirk Nowitzki


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## #1AntoineWalkerFan (Mar 10, 2005)

whiterhino said:


> Paul is easily a top 10 player this season
> Top 10 not in any order
> Duncan
> KG
> ...




there no way you can exclude elton brand for this list and put in mcgrady whos been out for alot of the year...mcgrady is top 10 talent in the nba but definitely not this year...brand is having a beastly season and even a MUCH better season than duncan...yes i said MUCH...25-10-3-3 and best season for the clips in forever = MVP to me


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

I'm guessing you have no qualms with my "list."


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## #1AntoineWalkerFan (Mar 10, 2005)

Premier said:


> I'm guessing you have no qualms with my "list."




ha...not really...iverson deserves a spot on there but its tough on who you should take out to put ai in...statistically hes a little better than arenas butagain i think u could throw ai in there and say top 11...other than that no qualms lol


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## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

Whatever. I'm too partial to Gilbert to exclude him.


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## HB (May 1, 2004)

Its going to be interesting what happens with Pierce. Since that FA class is so deep, guys like Pierce, Vince and Dirk are going to determine what a lot of players make that year.


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## BackwoodsBum (Jul 2, 2003)

aquaitious said:


> To get a good team around him and compete?


That was exactly the point I was trying to make. I feel sure that Pierce is secure enough financially to live out his life in comfort even if he were to walk away tomorrow and never play another game. He simply does not need to demand a max contract. I'm sure he realizes that signing him to a max deal will eliminate the possibility of putting a good team around him. If he wants to win in Boston he's going to have to settle for a reasonable salary. At this point in his career I honestly expect that he will be willing to do that as long as the C's don't insult him with a ridiculously low number.


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## #1AntoineWalkerFan (Mar 10, 2005)

BackwoodsBum said:


> That was exactly the point I was trying to make. I feel sure that Pierce is secure enough financially to live out his life in comfort even if he were to walk away tomorrow and never play another game. He simply does not need to demand a max contract. I'm sure he realizes that signing him to a max deal will eliminate the possibility of putting a good team around him. If he wants to win in Boston he's going to have to settle for a reasonable salary. At this point in his career I honestly expect that he will be willing to do that as long as the C's don't insult him with a ridiculously low number.




no matter how financially set paul is if the c's offer him 10 mill for 7 yrs and a better team offers him 16 mill for 7 yrs...and trust me most teams out there are better now im not talkin about the future of our team im talking in the next 3 yrs...then hes gonna take the more money and most likely a bette rteam...its different if someone leaves a championship-calibur team for more money on a ****ty team like the hawks...but the c's are no where near championship calibur so it would be ridiculous for pierce to take a pay cut


you take a pay cut to play with shaq...you take a pay cut to play on the pistons...you dont take a pay cut to stay on the celtics


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## whiterhino (Jun 15, 2003)

Paul will never take a paycut, he wants to win but he's a star and he knows it he's not going to low ball himself...yeah it'd be awesome if he did but realistically it's not happening.


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## cgcatsfan (Jun 10, 2005)

It would be very noble if he did, but on the other hand, he's playing the best basketball of his life and doesn't deserve to HAVE to take a pay cut. He IS our franchise player.


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