Paul Pierce May End Up With Doc Rivers, Los Angeles Clippers in Free Agency

There is a very interesting situation developing with Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics and it’s one that could end in a number of different ways. The least likely way it ends is Pierce returning to the Celtics next season — something that Boston hopes would in turn lure Kevin Garnett back to the team in 2013-14 as well.

Another scenario sees the Celtics trading Pierce to a contender like the Bucks, who have shown an interest in acquiring the forward. But a third scenario sees Pierce ending up with the Los Angeles Clippers once free agency starts, and this happens by way of a trade and a buyout. It’s very unlikely that the Celtics do the buying out themselves but they could trade Pierce to another team who then buys him out and sets him loose on the free agency market.

At this point, the yellow brick road to Los Angeles is set before Pierce and all he has to do is follow it. According to Luke Adams and ESPN’s Marc Stein, this third scenario playing out is very possible.

"It’s also possible that Pierce could be dealt this week to a team that intends to buy him out for the cap savings, says Stein. In that scenario, Pierce could end up reuniting with Rivers by signing with the Clippers in July."

The Clippers tried to acquire Pierce in initial trade talks with the Celtics surrounding Doc Rivers, so it’s very clear that they will go after him if they can. The NBA isn’t fond of the idea of adding players in the Doc Rivers trade which is why we got a straight up trade rather than the blockbuster that was being reported.

But the Celtics want a first round pick and the only way they get a first-rounder and Pierce gets bought out is if the Mavericks want to help out but even then things get complicated.