Re: Ford: GMs say Pierce no longer untouchable

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pierce isn't holding the team back like Antoine, so I don't consider
trading him a priority. But I'd be wide open to it. With Antoine, you
had to trade him to move past that style of play. With Pierce, that's
not the case. I just think Pierce has settled in at that Ray Allen/Baron
Davis level - which is a notch below where we thought he was.



And if this was just a result of this season and all the turmoil, I'd
write it off. But it's not. Pierce hasn't been the same since Jersey
figured him out in the ECF. He had a significant dropoff last season,
and he has slid even more this season. Now he's compounding it by
quitting. I just think you have trouble when that's your foundation. I'm
a big believer in competitiveness, and Pierce has been lacking this
season.



Look ... I'm not saying "we have to trade Pierce this offseason ... "
Not at all. But I'd listen. He's not the player he was for the second
half of the Pitino/Obie season or the entire ECF season. He wasn't the
same player last season and he isn't this season. He hasn't handled
change well. He isn't adjusting. And now he's quitting on a team that
was very much in the playoff race - STILL is in the playoff race.



Now, you could say some of those same things about other players in the
league - McGrady, Francis come to mind - and I think you'll see those
names come up in trade talks, too. Doesn't mean they'll be traded. But
they'll be discussed. I don't think Pierce has played himself into
position to be considered untouchable.



What I expect to happen is this: I expect Ainge to shop Pierce around. I
expect him to explore a sign-and-trade for Kobe. In the end, I expect
him to keep Pierce, try to find a point guard, settle on a coach and
hope that and the return of Raef Lafrentz is enough to put this team
back in the playoffs. And that would be OK with me. But I'd listen. The
team's second and third best players basically play Pierce's position
and star big men don't come cheaply. If it takes a Pierce deal, then
maybe that's the price you pay.



Mark



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Mark P. wrote:



whoa, mark.  I agree that Pierce seems shaken -- but isn't that
understandable?  To some degree I'd sulk too if I were he -- his best
friends are gone, the team is losing, AND their losing while playing
stiffs like McCarty....losing ugly.  He's probably frustrated like all
of us -- but unlike us this is his life (well it might be our lives too
but that says something sad about us...:)