Paul Pierce was assumed to be a lifelong Boston Celtic. Pierce had played 15 years for the team after being drafted No. 10 overall back in 1998. However, all of that changed this year when the team made it clear they no longer felt he was worth the paycheck. Cutting ties with the veteran, Boston traded him away to the Brookly Nets along with Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. At 35-years old, many wonder how many years Pierce has left in the tank, but former Boston coach Doc Rivers thinks the trade will rejuvenate Pierce into a new player.
Rivers notes in an interview with Newsday.com that Pierce was emotionally hurt by the trade. He was not necessarily mad at going to Brooklyn, but more so hurt that a team he had spent his entire career with no longer wanted him. Now officially a member of the Nets, Rivers thinks Pierce could see a pickup in his game.
"I think in some ways, it may give him more life," Rivers said. "But I just think it's tough for him personally. Like he said in the press conference, he wanted to stay and wasn't allowed to, and that's tough for him."
Pierce and Rivers worked together for nine seasons before both parted ways with Boston. The Celtics are now knee-deep into rebuilding while the Nets are poised to win a championship sooner rather than later.
"Brooklyn is trying to win it. They got that, so it's a win-win for both teams. The tough part of that trade was Paul. That's tough because he was a Celtic. Kevin was kind of from Minnesota and the other guy, Jason, had been there one year. But Paul, that was a tough one," Rivers said.
The Nets have a lot of new faces in the starting lineup this year. Alongside first-year head coach Jason Kidd, Garnett and Pierce are expected to make an immediate impact on the court. The issue for Brooklyn will be how long does it take for the team to build chemistry. Kidd has the task of assembling a puzzle of players, but Rivers thinks it will allow come together in the end.
"I think it will come together," Rivers said. "Listen, anything comes together when a lot of people want it to come together, and they have a lot of guys that want it to come together. Paul, Jason and Kevin want to win another title and everyone else wants to win their first. So if they all want to do that, then it all will work out."
