Paul Pierce, anyone?

[elindholm]

This thread is sort of intended as a joke, but sort of not.

If McGrady goes to Houston, and if Bryant stays in Los Angeles, and if O'Neal either stays or goes to Dallas, what happens then?

No one here seems too thrilled about the Suns spending their massive cap room (potentially $18 million, depending on what the cap ends up at) on the other FAs available. And the summer of 2005 doesn't exactly look like a free-agent bonanza either. So another option might be to try to bring a disaffected star over in a trade, absorbing most of his salary with the space.

Aside from Pierce, who may or may not be available, what other options are there? Are any of them appealing?

 

[Cheesebeef]

what does next year's FA crop look like? Not a big fan of pierce unless we could somehow send them Marion and very little else. He still doesn't do a whole lot for me - he was really dissapointing this year, but then again, he played on a an abolsutely stripped down LOUSY squad - hmm, maybe Pierce and Amare could be a nice duo after all . . .

 

[Yuma]

This thread is sort of intended as a joke, but sort of not.

If McGrady goes to Houston, and if Bryant stays in Los Angeles, and if O'Neal either stays or goes to Dallas, what happens then?

No one here seems too thrilled about the Suns spending their massive cap room (potentially $18 million, depending on what the cap ends up at) on the other FAs available. And the summer of 2005 doesn't exactly look like a free-agent bonanza either. So another option might be to try to bring a disaffected star over in a trade, absorbing most of his salary with the space.

Aside from Pierce, who may or may not be available, what other options are there? Are any of them appealing?

I like Pierce, but Boston seemingly never really promotes him. My friend is a Celtic fan so I watch them quite a bit, and this guy is Kobe "lite" IMHO. If we could trade the #7 for him, I would do it!

 

[elindholm]

Theoretically, the Suns could trade Johnson for Pierce, or Johnson and a pick, or whatever. It's unlikely that the Celtics would accept that, but the Suns have the cap room that they wouldn't automatically have to send Marion over.

 

[Yuma]

Theoretically, the Suns could trade Johnson for Pierce, or Johnson and a pick, or whatever. It's unlikely that the Celtics would accept that, but the Suns have the cap room that they wouldn't automatically have to send Marion over.

JJ was jetissoned from Boston to us after a half season. They seemed very down on JJ. I doubt they would want that! If we had to have TMac or Kobe, then Pierce would be the next logical step to me. However, I would give less for him than TMac or Kobe, of course. I'd fish the seven pick and see if Boston bites. They may want to get rid of cap space, and may have their eye on someone that high in the draft. I know Ainge wanted them to miss the playoffs pretty bad.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

hmm, i'll echo cheese's question . . . what's next year's fa crop look like? i might be inclined to sit on our space to use next year (though i'm sure we'll lose some of it to increasing contracts of our current squad, but even so, it might be worth it verses signing some of the scrubinos from this offseason).

 

[Town Drunk]

Ray Allen?

 

[Yuma]

Ray Allen?

Depend son if he's cheaper than Pierce. Pierce hits a lot of big shots. I think he has more nerve than Allen. More of a Kobe, Tmac factor. That being said, if JJ improved his nerve, he could develop into a Pierce type of player easily. He just doesn't have that gunner's mentality yet.

 

[JerkFace]

michael redd....

pau gasol, tyson chandler, eddie curry depending on if they sign long term deals this year

 

[devilalum]

michael redd....

pau gasol, tyson chandler, eddie curry depending on if they sign long term deals this year

Wouldn't all those guys be restricted?

 

[JerkFace]

Wouldn't all those guys be restricted?

yes they would be restricted

 

[JerkFace]

some unrestricted guys that will be available next year:
Larry Hughes
Donyell Marshall
Ronald Murray
Ray Allen
Hidayet Turkoglu
Bobby Jackson
Theo Ratliff
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Glenn Robinson
Latrell Sprewell
Zydrunas Illgauskas
Jamal Crawford
Carlos Boozer

not a very impressive group

 

[elindholm]

I agree it's not that impressive a group. There are some quality players there that could help almost any team, but no real franchise guys (I guess Allen is the closest).

 

[JerkFace]

i would trade marion and jacobson for pierce.....think danny would go for it? probably not.

 

[cly2tw]

Marion + JJ for Pierce + #14(or#23?). (And + Jake for Boston's promise not to match our offersheet to sign Mark Blount)

Boston has an explosive scorer in Davis who is not a good match with Pierce. But Marion/Davis/JJ is big and dynamic, better than Pierce/Davis/?? they have.

Suns.

#7 get Gordon/Harris
Sign Blount, Bowen, Barry, Swift(?), Dice

C: Blount/Swift
PF: Amare/Dice/Zarko
SF: Bowen/CJ
SG: Pierce/Barry
PG: Gordon/Barbosa/Eisley

 

[slinslin]

Paul Pierce has declined in the last years and he is older than TMac.

If we weren't willing to give up even Marion and #7 for TMac we will surely not be willing to trade Marion and JJ for Pierce and #15 or so.

 

[cly2tw]

If we weren't willing to give up even Marion and #7 for TMac .

Who is "we" here? I'd do even Marion, #7, JJ for TMac + a bit of other goodies. We absolutely need another go-to scorer next to Amare! And Pierce is one of the best at that, slightly behind Kobe and TMac. His "decline" in stats last season was a result of the Celtic's trading away his familiar complements and that Davis not meshing well with him yet.

 

[slinslin]

And how do you explain his decline from the 2001/2002 to 2002/2003 season?

01/02 26.1ppg 44.2%FG
02/03 25.9ppg 41.6%FG
03/04 23.0ppg 40.2%FG

 

[cly2tw]

And how do you explain his decline from the 2001/2002 to 2002/2003 season?

01/02 26.1ppg 44.2%FG
02/03 25.9ppg 41.6%FG
03/04 23.0ppg 40.2%FG

The drop in % is not a big concern, as it often reflects how much the parameter scorer is double and triple teamed on offense. When was Walker traded away? I think with a true low-post go-to scorer like Amare, Pierce's shooting % will get back to 44-45% range, since he'd have much more space to operate and get his shots off.

 

[slinslin]

Walker was traded just before the 03/04 season.

The reason Paul Pierce shooting percentage dropped is just because he isn't a very good shooter. He is a streaky shooter.

He can hit 12 out of 20 in one game and in the next he hits 6 of 24.

Put JJ on a team and tell him just to be the primary scorer like Pierce and I think he could do even as well as Pierce especially considering JJ is only 22.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Walker was traded away last season.

The decline in Pierce's FG% is more related to the frequency he has to shoot jump shots instead of being able to slash to the hoop since the illegal defense rules were abolished

 

[George O'Brien]

Walker was traded away last season.

The decline in Pierce's FG% is more related to the frequency he has to shoot jump shots instead of being able to slash to the hoop since the illegal defense rules were abolished

(Does this count for post padding?)

 

[cly2tw]

Walker was traded away last season.

The decline in Pierce's FG% is more related to the frequency he has to shoot jump shots instead of being able to slash to the hoop since the illegal defense rules were abolished

That's a very good and valid point! Consequently, he started to see a lot more defenders on his way driving to basket. This'd mean that other players have a decent chance to get free too. Anyway, this is a quality few players in NBA possesses, and definitely not Marion and unsure yet how good JJ ever might become at drawing those defensive attentions.

 

[George O'Brien]

That's a very good and valid point! Consequently, he started to see a lot more defenders on his way driving to basket. This'd mean that other players have a decent chance to get free too. Anyway, this is a quality few players in NBA possesses, and definitely not Marion and unsure yet how good JJ ever might become at drawing those defensive attentions.

JJ drew a lot of attention after a few weaks of him tearing up the league. That is why his assist total improved.

In any case, JJ will never shoot as much as Pierce as long as his main job is to get the ball to Amare. In Boston the offense revolves around Pierce, but in Phoenix it should revolve around Amare.

 

[pokerface]

I like that Pierce gets to the line a lot. Him and Amare could get some teams in serious foul trouble.

What I dont like is Pierce's contract is like 2 or 3 years shorter than Marons. That might not be a big deal but you never know.

Not sure on the Celtics needs but Marion+token player could probably get it done. The token player would probably have to be better than Casey..some prospect..maybe one of Lampe/Barbosa/Zarko/Vujanic.

I think after Walker left Pierce lost a lot of interest in the Celtics...he may be primed to get picked up about now.