Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Pierce, 38, has two years remaining on a three-year, $10 million deal with the Clippers but is coming off the worst statistical season of his career. If Pierce does return for the 2016-17 season, he said it will certainly be his last.
“Well, we always say it’s 51-49. I get 51 percent of the vote and the rest of [the family] gets 49,” he said. “[My wife’s] input carried a lot of weight. We’ll figure out some things. I know I don’t want to be sitting at home, whatever I do, regardless. If I come back, it will be one more [season] and that will be it. No doubt.” […]
Pierce said he talked with close friend and former teammate Kevin Garnett on Tuesday about his decision. It was a difficult season for Pierce in Los Angeles. He averaged a career-low 6.1 points in just 18 minutes per game, shooting 36.3 percent. Pierce came off the bench for 30 of his 68 games.
“I thought I had one more good year [this past season], but obviously I didn’t like how it all went with my role,” he said. “I’m still just trying to figure it out. A lot has got to do with my role I’m going to play. To come back and sit 82 games, I don’t know if I can do that.”
Globe – Paul Pierce will make decision in a few weeks on whether to retire
It sounds like Paul wants to go around one more time, but chances are his role won’t change if he stays with the Clippers. Hmm, where could he be the elder statesman for a young, improving team that could use leadership? In a city where fans adore him? It’s on the tip of my tongue.
Well, anyway, it’s fun during these Finals to watch Pierce give his opinions on the pre-game show. He did predict a double-digit Cavs win last night. And we’ll always have this.
Reunited & it feels so good… 2008 #NBAFinals MVP “The Truth” @paulpierce34! pic.twitter.com/2brEt6vCJe
— NBA (@NBA) June 8, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsOn Page 2: No one has a clue
No one outside of Danny Ainge’s inner circle and perhaps a few trusted Chipotle employees has a clue about what the Celtics’ president of basketball operations wants to do to enhance his team this offseason, though we can all safely assume taking a meeting with Kevin Durant is at the top of the checklist.
Not even Ainge knows right now what he will do. Certainly he has his preferences regarding free-agency, potential trades, and how to deploy the Celtics’ eight draft choices. But there are so many variables that depend on the whims and decisions of other players and executives that the way this crucial offseason ultimately shakes out may be stunningly different from how anyone – Ainge included – envisions it shaking out at this moment.
He doesn’t just need a Plan B. He may need a Plan ZZ. Maybe even Plan Triple Z. He will need many plans.
Boston.com – Harrison Barnes, the Celtics, and trying to decipher Danny Ainge’s plans
We are currently swamped with workout reports, mock drafts, trade rumors, free agent speculation – it’s non-stop. Yet no one really knows anything. The draft isn’t until June 23, and it can’t get here fast enough.
Meanwhile, the article goes on to consider the possibility of acquiring Harrison Barnes.
It’s possible that Ainge’s perspective on Barnes has changed in three years; at his most frustrating moments, Barnes can seem like a newer-model Jeff Green. But he’s also may be a top-billing talented who has been lost in a supporting role because of all of his gifted and charismatic cast mates. I’d bet the Celtics like him, a lot.
Frankly, I don’t know what to expect if Barnes comes to Boston. He’s in the supporting cast with Golden State, but he’d be in a leading role here. Would he respond? Or is Barnes another Rick Fox?
Fox was a Celtics 1991 first-round pick, so of course was expected to be a top contributor. Although he was very strong defensively, Fox averaged just 10.7 points in six seasons. He wasn’t an all-star. Then he signed as a free agent with the Shaq Lakers and won three rings while averaging 8.7 points in seven seasons. Bottom line, Fox was a helluva lot more effective as a role player in LA than he was as a main cog in Boston.
So the question is this: Are we already seeing the best Barnes can give, or does he have star potential that will only emerge with another team? In other words, can he become the next James Harden? If we get to Plan ZZ, maybe we’ll find out.
On Page 3: Love/hate relationship
Love, acquired by the Cavaliers to be a primary piece of their championship puzzle, has been a poor fit in his two seasons in Cleveland. Once considered the game’s premier rebounder — he once grabbed 31 in a game — Love has been reduced to a stretch power forward who is constantly exposed on defense. […]
It’s obvious the Celtics need to make a major splash this summer. And while president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will dutifully pursue Kevin Durant — with Legal Sea Foods pitching in with free crab legs for life, seriously — Ainge has to be more reasonable in his goals.
It’s obvious the Celtics need to make a major splash this summer. And while president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will dutifully pursue Kevin Durant — with Legal Sea Foods pitching in with free crab legs for life, seriously — Ainge has to be more reasonable in his goals.
Love, at the very least, has to be a consideration, with the Celtics owning several first-round picks — valuable commodities — and a crowded backcourt that needs thinning. And it’s plausible that the Kevin Love in Boston, under the tutelage of Brad Stevens — who loves players who can stretch the floor — will be a better version than the one who stood near the 3-point line and waited for passes in Cleveland.
Globe – Kevin Love and Celtics might be a good match
Isn’t life funny? There was a time when Celtics fans would’ve done anything to see Kevin Love in green. Now most of us would light ourselves on fire if it were to happen. But, as stated above, it’s becoming obvious that Love and Cleveland are not destined for a long and happy marriage.
Ainge is the master of picking up players for little to nothing. If there’s a way to get Love for the no. 3 pick and spare parts – without giving up any rotation players – Danny will find it. If not, the silver lining is we won’t have to hate rooting for Love.
On Page 4: They were the greatest
“It’s a bias, naturally. I lived with that team and admired that team and believe that it’s the best team at its best that there ever was,” Ryan said of the Celtics. “Because of the combinations, they could beat you every way. They could beat you inside with Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, and even Larry Bird posting up. And then they could beat you outside with Bird shooting and Danny Ainge and Jerry Sichting and Scott Wedman — they all were good shooters. And Dennis Johnson was a streaky shooter, but he could shoot and could make an occasional 3. And they could beat you that way. They could run; they ran well. They defended in the half court very well. They touched all the bases, they had that great bench.
“And they had that one trump card that I always like to cite as my reason why I believe it’s the best team of all time: There have been other great sixth men in history … but there was never, for that one year, a sixth man who affected the game in the way that Bill Walton did. He was a different kind of a sixth man. He gave them a dimension that no team had. He gave them the best one-two center punch in the history of the game, and that’s unarguable.”
CBS Boston – Bob Ryan: Why 1986 Celtics Are The Greatest Team Of All Time
I’ve always believed that the ’85-’86 Celtics were the best team ever, so it’s good to hear a legend like Bob Ryan confirm it. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of Banner 16, as the Celtics closed out the Finals versus Houston with a blowout win in Game 6. Larry Bird had a triple double in one of the best performances of his career, which is saying something. Here are a few highlights.
30 Years Ago Today: “Larry Bird buries Rockets as @Celtics crowned champions” @GlobeBobRyan https://t.co/8XPVQrQZ5shttps://t.co/XEZkVQz3ng
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 8, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsUnfortunately, that turned out to be the last championship for the Bird-era team, due to a combination of Len Bias’ death, injuries that forced Bird and Kevin McHale to retire sooner than expected, and the rise of the Pistons and Bulls.
Related: Celtics.com – 30 Years Later, Bird Reflects on Legendary ’86 Season | K.C. Jones Honored with Daly Lifetime Achievement Award
And, finally: Blowing the whistle
Skepticism permeated the National Basketball Referees Association’s news release Tuesday asking the league to do away with the L2M reports. The NBRA’s distaste for and distrust of the practice was apparent in the bullet points under the heading, “Reasons to End L2M Reporting and Other “Transparency” Measures:
- Transparency does nothing to change the outcome of the game.
- Transparency encourages anger and hostility towards NBA officials.
- Focusing on officiating statistics encourages stat-oriented, versus game-oriented, officiating. It is in the best interest of the NBA and its fans to encourage and develop game-oriented referees that balance game flow and fair play.
- Efforts to promote transparency have encouraged the idea that perfection in officiating is possible. Perfection is neither possible nor desirable; if every possible infraction were to be called, the game would be unwatchable and would cease to exist as a form of entertainment in this country.
- Transparency has been misused as a catalyst by some teams to mobilize fans against the officials in an attempt to coerce more favorable treatment.
- While the goal of transparency was to promote understanding and credibility, there is no evidence that progress against these goals is being made.
NBA.com – NBA Referees’ Union Calls For End To ‘Last Two-Minute’ Reports
Everything above is true, and it’s not surprising the referees’ union pointed it out. Plenty of others have, too, including Steve Kerr. But the complaints from the refs are a bit ironic: their job is make judgments, but they don’t like it at all when someone else is blowing the whistle on them.
The biggest problem with the L2M reports, however, is that there are no repercussions for refs who screw up. Ken Mauer and Marc Davis were involved in the most egregious officiating screw-up of this year’s playoffs, the non-call on the elbow thrown by Dion Waiters in the final seconds of Spurs-Thunder Game 2. Yet, they’ve continued to work the playoffs, including Game 1 of the Finals. If the league really wanted to put some teeth into the L2M reports, it would find a way to apply some penalties to those at fault. But we all know that will probably never happen.
The Rest of the Links:
CSNNE – Celtics: Evaluating International Players For Draft Can Be ‘Hard’
MassLive – Takeaways from Jamal Murray’s record-breaking workout with Boston Celtics | Zach Auguste explains bond with 83-year-old former Boston Celtics player | Legal Sea Foods offering Kevin Durant unlimited crab legs if he signs with Boston Celtics
ESPN Boston – Boston restaurant joins Kevin Durant recruitment with offer of free crab legs | Jamal Murray at Celtics workout: ‘I’m the best player in the draft’
Herald – Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis already steeped in Celtics Pride
Sports Illustrated – Napkin plays, film sessions and a call: How Doc Rivers groomed Tyronn Lue
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