I set out this morning to write a post about what could have been for the Celtics if Danny decided to take an opposite path. Coming into this offseason the Danny had three options 1)Continue with Pierce in the Mix of a Youth Movement, 2) Trade all your Youth for 2 Superstars at the Tail-End of their primes or 3) Trade Pierce and go full force on the youth movement. Option 1 really ensured no title so Danny pretty much needed to pick one of the latter two paths if the Celtics were to win a championship. We see how the roster is currently and we know that they have 3 NBA all stars and a bag of poo. If they can sign some free agents the remainder of the offseason or execute some contract dumps during the season than perhaps they will have a legit chance at a title. For now I think it's doubtful, but still more likely than if they stood pat with veteran youth mix.
But what could have been if Danny decided to take the other path. What kind of package would Pierce have brought in? So I found myself at ESPN Trade Machine searching for deals that would make sense to trade Pierce. I looked at the Bulls who had Ben Gordon and the 9th pick at their disposal which would have been a good trade for Pierce at both ends. But Gordon only makes 4 million. I tried to throw in Hinrich's larger contract instead of Gordon and still got nothing. I continued to look and look and look for a deal that would make sense for the Celtics. Namely to get a few expiring contracts to equal out Pierces 16 million and get a few young potential players / draft picks. And I just couldn't find a deal that would have really worked. Something that would have brought a legit package back to the Celtics to a team that would want Pierce's services towards a title.
So in all honesty maybe Danny had no choice but to go after the title with KG, Allen, Pierce and hopefully a few more veteran free agent signings. Maybe there just was nothing on the table for Pierce that could have even been deemed fair.
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