With Doc Rivers on his way West, one would have assumed the pending Boston Celtics re-build was beginning to take shape. And it still might be, but the Celtics may take a different approach than first expected as Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the Boston Celtics do not plan to buy out the contract of Paul Pierce, at least not right now.
"The Celtics have to make a decision before June 30 if they want to buy out the remaining $15 million on Paul Pierce‘s contract for $5 million, but Boston is finding that scenario less and less likely, sources told Yahoo! Sports. There’s been enough trade interest from contending teams who still see the 35-year-old Pierce as a plausible third offensive option, sources said."
It certainly makes sense for the Celtics organization if they can move their long time small forward as it will save them the buy out money, but I’m sure Pierce wont exactly be thrilled as he wants to play in his hometown of Los Angles with the Clippers, at least according to the rumor mill.
It’s possible that a team acquiring Pierce would do so in a salary dump move, but it’s hard to envision the Celtics taking back any poor contract considering the point of the ‘re-build’ would be to shed salary.