Paul Pierce says Nets don’t want to be contenders this year

By Anthony Parisi | Oct 6, 2014

Sep 29, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2), Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34), and Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) pose for a portrait during Wizards Media Day at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Paul Pierce signed with the Washington Wizards in the offseason, but he claims that was because the Nets didn’t want to contend.

Paul Pierce’s time in Brooklyn didn’t go quite as expected, but overall he had his share of awesome moments. Despite, struggling mightily early in the season, Pierce started to play at a much higher level later in the season and his series sealing block on Kyle Lowry to send the Nets to the second round is one of the best moments in franchise history.

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It was expected by Pierce and all of the league that the Nets would bring Pierce back to play in black and white for another season, but Nets general manger Billy King had a change of heart. King decided that it would be best for the organization to add some youth to the team and he decided not to offer Pierce a contract to come back to Brooklyn.

The news stunned Pierce and in return he signed with the Washington Wizards to play alongside John Wall and Bradley Beal. The Nets wanted to allow for younger guys like Bojan Bogdanovic and Mason Plumlee to receive more minutes and combine their youth with the experience of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and a returning Brook Lopez.

P Pierce tells @daldridgetnt Nets didn't make him an offer: "They said they wanted to cut costs, they felt like they weren't a contender."
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) October 6, 2014

Pierce claims that the Nets don’t feel like they’re contenders, but that’s not how the Nets are approaching things this season. Deron Williams told reporters today that the Nets are even deeper than last season and coach Lionel Hollins expects Kevin Garnett to be much more versatile than he was last season.

Words don’t mean anything for both parties and we’ll find out everything that needs to be said on the hardwood. Pierce is a Washington Wizard now and the Nets still feel that they can compete without ‘The Truth’ on their squad.

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