Definitely the money is part of it. But also he has made it known that he doesnt want to be here if we dont have a good team. He also is a bit of a party animal, and isnt a great example for the younger kids. We are paying him a lot of money, along with Raef getting 10 mil, Blount makes a lot too, and we are also STILL paying 5 million this season to Vin Baker. If we could get rid of 1-2 of those contracts it would bring us under the cap with room to sign solid veteran leadership. I really like Ray Allen, but I dont think we can get him. He is probably one of the top 10 jumpshooters of all time and would be a great leader if we could get him. To solve the veteran leader problem shouldnt be hard, because Antoine was an amazing leader, and he could still come back, though that would cut into Big Al's playing time.
I still have no idea what Ainge is going to do, but whatever he does, it will be one of many options. He could still deal Pierce and Blount and cut cap. If they did that, I would be pretty happy, because it would mean that Perkins would get more playing time, and I'm pretty high on him. He is the best rebounder the Celts have, if he could only play within himself and not foul as much, and develop a little more of a presence on the blocks he could be a fine player along side Big Al Jefferson for years to come.
I dont really care what we do with Pierce, and I dont even care if the Celtics suck this year. They have the youngest team, and each and every one of the young ones has shown some promise (well, maybe not Justin Reed). But Tony Allen was solid last year, played very good defense starting at the 2. The PG tandem of Banks and West is another amazing defensive one. While Banks is better on defense, and West has a better jumper, theyre both going to be good a year or two down the road. Then you have Perkins, who showed a few flashes of brilliance with some great rebounding and outlet passes leading to fast breaks. The there is Al Jefferson. We are so lucky that he dropped to us at 15 last year, he is just so good.
The one thing they must get is veteran leadership to guide these young kids, and teach them how to deal with the NBA life and game. If Ainge can pull that off, we can be one of the best teams in the NBA a few years down the road because of the amazing job the Danny Ainge and company has done. He needs to not forget the brilliance that Ricky Davis showed last year. Im sure that if Pierce is dealt, and we cant get Allen or Redd, which we probably wont, that we still have Davis, who is capable of coming in and not only providing energy, points, but uptempo defense as well, and I think Ainge needs to look at that and analyze whether he thinks Davis can step in and start at the 2 or 3 full time.