Wizards sign Paul Pierce, 2 years @ MLE

[exculpatory]

This move is huge for the Wiz. Paul Pierce is an upgrade over Ariza and much cheaper. Many are overlooking how big this move is. Just a year ago Pierce averaged over 18ppg for the Celtics. What makes you think he wont be able to do that now? His production dropped in Brooklyn because there were more "stars"to share the ball with. Ariza has never even sniffed 18ppg in his whole career. Pierce is a proven scorer and has always been clutch. Pierce can create his own shot and can put the ball on the floor, all things Ariza does not do well. When you need a last minute bucket, anyone would give the ball to Paul Pierce over Trevor Ariza. This move makes the Wizards a better team than last year.

How about checking out this ranking list for the top 2013-2014 Small Forwards. Pierce came in at #6 only behind lebron,durant,paul george, kawi leonard and josh smith.

http://www.nba.com/magic/cohen-8-ball-ranking-2013-14-best-small-forwards-3

The Wizards just stole one of the top 15 durable scorers still in the NBA for 5 million a year??!

Again, the Wizards have just gotten better, more mature and more dangerous in just 1day.

Great post. On point.

PS Paul is currently #18 NBA All Time Scorer with >25K points - he has a chance to retire in 2 years at #10 - freaking incredible.

[Deivy202]

Mil I agree. Finally aome one sees the light. As for defense paul D not even bad and can get us 18 ppg. He still can shoot threes and he can close games which is what counts and avg 5 rebounds.

[payitforward]

I'm delighted by this! It'll be a treat and an honor to see PP in our uniform. He exemplifies everything great about a professional athlete. (but props to Trevor, because he was incredible for us)

As to effect on next year's record, Pierce @2000-2100 minutes vs. Ariza at 2730 might mean a baby step backwards -- unless you think Porter can come in and right away play at the high level Ariza set last year which wd be great but seems a little doubtful.

Who cares. I'd rather have Pierce for 2 years than Ariza for 4. The contract timing is much better for us, and he is still quite good, can give us 25 minutes (meaning there's plenty of minutes for Otto), costs less, and... all in all it's terrific.

Great job by Ernie to make this move!

Who are you and what have you done with PIF?!?!

I'm the same objective basketball analyst (and enthusiastic, subjective fan!) I've always been.

Objectively, PP will be something of a step back -- as I said. He was as efficient as TA scoring the ball last year, but he doesn't rebound as well and he's not as good a defender (not saying he is a bad defender, but no one would claim he is the equal on defense to Ariza). We'll also have to see whether at his age he can keep up w/ our desired team speed.

The big reason there'll likely be a little deficit is that he probably will play 2000+ minutes -- not as much as TA. So a lot depends on Otto.

It's still a great move, because it was by far the best available move! I'm no EG admirer. But you don't get to critique a guy for his mistakes if you're unwilling to grant him his successes.

[willywazza]

Wow I didn't see him signing with this team.

I was so certain he was joining Doc Rivers in LA or returning to play with his buddy KG in Brooklyn.

Great move - he's a proven scorer and brings a lot of experience. The guys will love playing with The Truth.

[gambitx777]

Will wall feeding him, playing next to beal, with bigs who can pass, I would not be shocked if Piece did 2-5 points per game better than he did last year.

[WizardsWorld]

FINALLY a move we all agree on to be AWESOME ! The more I think about this, the more I love it. I've always been a big Pierce fan , I m still in shock he is now a Wizard. I really wanted Ariza back.. but now looking at this, I think we did the right thing. Bring in Pierce for 2 years to mentor Otto.... and have his contract up(along with Nene's) in 2016 to go hard core after Durant. This is just perfect ! Good job Ernie ! It's as if Ernie has been reading our board here.

[McFilthy]

One of the main complaints towards the Wizards front office has been putting short term success in front of long term gain. Overall, I would rather have Ariza at this point in his career, but not for four years as I hope that Otto develops and for financial flexibility in the future. Paul Pierce on a short deal is a great!

Nice job Ernie Grunfeld! Wow, feels good (and odd) to write that.

[fishercob]

Apologies if I'm repeating others here; I skimmed most of the thread. A few angles of this that I like:

1) The Pierce-Lebron rivalry. Pierce is Lebron's #1 nemesis, and while he certainly isn't his equal on the court this adds another layer to the Wiz-Cavs rivalry that is about to take shape again. I actually think the NBA might feature this matchup on opening night. I think this will be great to develop our team's collective edge. You won't see any hero worship out of this group.

2) This move represents a sea change in perception of the Wizards around the league. closg00 recently linked to a 3-year old thread from after Beal was drafted. I was pining for Ray Allen at the MLE, given that was so much more than Miami could have paid him. But the response -- which was correct -- was why on earth would an accomplished basketball hero like Ray Allen consider the Wizards? Well, here we are today. Not only did the Wiz land Pierce, they didn't give him some outlandishly desperate contract to do so. They got him for $1M more per season than Ben Gordon.

3) While i prefer Ariza to Pierce in a vaccum, this move obviously doesn't happen in one. The contract length matters. But furthermore, while Ariza may have been better on the Wizards this year, the Wizards will have a matured Beal, Wall and hopefully Porter supplementing whatever produciton shortfall this created. Point being, we may not see a big difference in the standings from this move.

[jmrosenth]

^# 2 seems like the most important here in terms of the history of the franchise. When has this team ever signed a veteran guy like Pierce with something left in the tank, to a seemingly BELOW market contract? MJ was a special case obviously so you have to throw him out. You could argue that Pierce didn't have any other options, but I find that hard to believe. The Nets didn't want him back, fine, but if he couldn't muster a bigger offer than a 2/10mill deal, his agent's not doing his job. The Lakers don't give him $8mill for next year just as a trade chip? Which leads me to believe PP signed not just for the money. In DC. On the Wizards.

What planet are we on?

[Dat2U]

This move is huge for the Wiz. Paul Pierce is an upgrade over Ariza and much cheaper. Many are overlooking how big this move is. Just a year ago Pierce averaged over 18ppg for the Celtics. What makes you think he wont be able to do that now?

The fact that he carried 20% of his teams possessions then, and will not be the spearhead this year either. He may get more touches than last year, but the ball will likely be in the hands of John Wall and Bradley Beal. If he takes any touches from any player already on the squad it may prove to be Nene whose playmaking skills will be less necessary now.

I like the signing, but we had a top 5 defense last year. We won't this year. So his offense will have to prove remarkable to carry us to victories since we won;t be able to rely on late game stops to get there. At least we won't have as many stretches where our offense simply goes glacial. That will be a relief, for sure.

Pierce's overall defensive impact is underrated. His b-ball IQ is off-the-charts. We become a smarter team with Pierce and while Pierce doesn't have the foot speed to chase around quicker opponents, he uses his wisdom and guile to play excellent positional defense, is sharp as ever on rotations (still excellent when closing out on shooters) and won't back down to anyone, even as an undersized stretch 4.

I would just avoid using him too much at SF. He can play there in spots for sure, but really he's a 4/3 at this stage of his career.

[hands11]

Luol Deng Agrees To Sign With Heat On Two-Year, $20M Deal

Interesting.

So now that we know his deal, the PP deal and the TA deal.

Which would people prefer ?

[Rafael122]

Luol Deng Agrees To Sign With Heat On Two-Year, $20M Deal

Interesting.

So now that we know his deal, the PP deal and the TA deal.

Which would people prefer ?

I'd prefer Paul's, the years and money are great.

[pineappleheadindc]

The thing I like best about PP is his level of swag. That dude thinks he's invincible.

I hope that kind of confidence rubs off on the rest of the team.

Oh, that should-be-patented step back jumper is pretty sweet too.

[hands11]

The thing I like best about PP is his level of swag. That dude thinks he's invincible.

I hope that kind of confidence rubs off on the rest of the team.

Oh, that should-be-patented step back jumper is pretty sweet too.

Good point.

That's one of the main reasons I had wanted players like Ray Allen, PP and even Birdman to join the team.

Interesting thing is, PP will likely teach Beal as much as he will teach Otto.

[exculpatory]

The thing I like best about PP is his level of swag. That dude thinks he's invincible.

I hope that kind of confidence rubs off on the rest of the team.

Oh, that should-be-patented step back jumper is pretty sweet too.

Paul is indeed "swag personified" - and he has backed his swag up with a 16 year HOF career & too numerous too count clutch makes.

[verbal8]

^# 2 seems like the most important here in terms of the history of the franchise. When has this team ever signed a veteran guy like Pierce with something left in the tank, to a seemingly BELOW market contract? MJ was a special case obviously so you have to throw him out. You could argue that Pierce didn't have any other options, but I find that hard to believe. The Nets didn't want him back, fine, but if he couldn't muster a bigger offer than a 2/10mill deal, his agent's not doing his job. The Lakers don't give him $8mill for next year just as a trade chip? Which leads me to believe PP signed not just for the money. In DC. On the Wizards.

What planet are we on?

Reportedly he signed partially to play with Wall and Beal.

It is a long-time ago, but it reminds me a little of when a 35 year-old Anthony Peeler left a play-off team in Sacramento to sign with a Wizards club that won 25 games. Peeler didn't contribute a ton to the Wizards, but they did win 45 games and a play-off series.

[WizTom]

Dagger!

I love it. The money, the years, the O.G. swag.

The game is changing. These days teams are playing with stretch 4s and bigger, traditional 3s like LeBroni & Melo playing the 4, and Pierce might be the prototype for that role. Of course, it's too bad the Wiz are in this situation. I wish they had just drafted Vucevic or Leonard, Faried, and Parsons in 2011 and Noel & Wolters last year. But given the dire situation, I also agree that this team needed a primary late clock/late game option more than it needed to lock-in Ariza for 4 years. And I've been an Ariza fan for years. I remember posting that we should have signed him waaay back when we got Songaila -- 2007 or '08 maybe.

And speaking of waaay back, at the least this move brought some activity from old heads like CDouglas and J-Ro.

Cramer? Greendale? C'mon, guys. It's 2003 all over again!

[nate33]

Luol Deng Agrees To Sign With Heat On Two-Year, $20M Deal

Interesting.

So now that we know his deal, the PP deal and the TA deal.

Which would people prefer ?

The best thing of all would have been for Ariza to agree to the same deal that Deng signed, but to do so with us. I'd much rather have Ariza for the next 2 years at $10M per, than Pierce for the next 2 years at $5M per. I appreciate all the love and respect everyone has for Pierce, but the man is 36 years old and had an insane amount of mileage on him. I expect a pretty noticeable decline over the next 2 years and anyone that doesn't think this is simply deluding themselves.

Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy with Pierce for 2 years instead of Ariza for 4, I'm just saying Ariza for 2 years would be the best of all possible worlds. Ariza is a perfect fit on this roster. Heck, a really awesome scenario would have been to retain Ariza AND sign Pierce as a stretch four.

[Zonkerbl]

Luol Deng Agrees To Sign With Heat On Two-Year, $20M Deal

Interesting.

So now that we know his deal, the PP deal and the TA deal.

Which would people prefer ?

The best thing of all would have been for Ariza to agree to the same deal that Deng signed, but to do so with us. I'd much rather have Ariza for the next 2 years at $10M per, than Pierce for the next 2 years at $5M per. I appreciate all the love and respect everyone has for Pierce, but the man is 36 years old and had an insane amount of mileage on him. I expect a pretty noticeable decline over the next 2 years and anyone that doesn't think this is simply deluding themselves.

Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy with Pierce for 2 years instead of Ariza for 4, I'm just saying Ariza for 2 years would be the best of all possible worlds. Ariza is a perfect fit on this roster. Heck, a really awesome scenario would have been to retain Ariza AND sign Pierce as a stretch four.

Well, this is what I don't like about these kinds of discussions. The fact that Ariza more than likely would get offers for 4 year deals means that getting Ariza for two years, ten million is simply a non-starter. It's not part of a subgame perfect Bayesian equilibrium so why even bring it up?

That's game theory for "it's not a credible threat so no rational player will even consider that outcome."

[pineappleheadindc]

Zonker, I admit that I have no idea what you just posted.

But if I'm ever involved in a high stakes auction, will you be my consultant?