This article makes a good case for why Pierce won't be traded. That and the owners love him and want him to stay a Celtic for life. Being that Pierce likes it here and wants to stay also, I have no idea why the trade rumors still swirl around him.... Especially since he has raised his game from star to super star this year. I just don't see him being traded. Would be nice to get in on the other side of one of those lopsided trades though and trade some draft picks and maybe scal, tony, and dickau for a star.... I could handle that one.
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060303/SPORTS0403/603030507/1088/SPORTS04Going to trade a star? It's not a good idea
By Mark Montieth
mark.montieth@indystar.com
March 3, 2006
The men who pull the roster strings for NBA teams are supposed to be experienced, wise and a little bit psychic.
So it's strange that they tend to go brain-dead when the time comes to trade their most valuable resources. Namely, their best player.
History shows it's true, which is a bad omen for any team that might consider unloading its best player in the offseason.
Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson, Boston's Paul Pierce and the Indiana Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal are among the All-Stars whose names were frequently spit out by the rumor mill before the league's Feb. 23 trading deadline.
They could come up for further rumor and review this summer if their teams fail to make the playoffs, or underachieve once they get there. Right or wrong, teams usually look to get rid of their established stars rather than their black holes when major changes must be confronted.
When they do, they tend to make a mess of things. Woe to the exec who forgets the golden rule of trading stars: The team that gets the star wins the trade. Why? Good players are easy to get. Great ones are not, and you can't win big without great players.
Here's a look at some of the NBA's most notable dumb moves involving established star players.
Dec. 17, 2004:
Toronto traded Vince Carter to New Jersey for Aaron Williams, Eric Williams and Alonzo Mourning and two first-round draft picks.
Skinny: Sure, Carter asked for a trade, and then backed up the request with effort lapses that called his integrity into question.
Still, they should have gotten more for a seven-time All-Star than two backups and a player (Mourning) who never reported. This deal, more than anything, is the reason former Raptors general manager Pete Babcock is a former GM. Dec. 17, 2004:
July 14, 2004:
Los Angeles traded Shaquille O'Neal to Miami for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and two draft picks.
Skinny: The Lakers were in a bind after it became clear they had to choose between O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. It's easy to argue O'Neal was the one to go, given his advanced age. And other teams have gotten less for future Hall of Famers.
Still . . .
Trading one of the game's greatest centers for an inconsistent player (Odom), an over-the-hill player (Grant) and a solid player (Butler) is no way to rebuild.
The Lakers later released Grant and traded Butler as part of a deal for underachieving Kwame Brown, so all they really got was Odom. No wonder Miami is trying to win a championship and the Lakers are merely trying to make the playoffs. July 14, 2004:
June 17, 1992:
Philadelphia traded Charles Barkley for Andrew Lang, Tim Perry and Jeff Hornacek.
Skinny: Lang and Perry were journeymen. Hornacek was better than that, but he was traded a year later for Jeff Malone, who played less than a full season with the 76ers.
Barkley's effort was erratic, but he won league MVP honors in 1993, when he led the Suns to the NBA Finals, and he'll almost certainly be part of the next class admitted to the Hall of Fame. June 17, 1992:
Oct. 20, 1976:
The New York Nets sold Julius Erving to Philadelphia for $3 million.
Skinny: Erving was only 26 and had won three ABA Most Valuable Player awards when Nets owner Roy Boe unloaded him for cold cash.
It's hard to say what Boe did with the $3 million, but whatever it was, it didn't bring him as much pleasure as Erving brought the 76ers. He was the NBA's MVP in 1981 and led them to a championship in '83. Oct. 20, 1976:
Jan. 15, 1965:
San Francisco traded Wilt Chamberlain to Philadelphia for Paul Neumann, Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer and a reported $150,000.
Skinny: Nothing like giving away the game's most imposing force, huh? Neumann and Dierking were solid, nothing more, and Shaffer never reported.
San Francisco had financial troubles and its team doctor claimed Chamberlain had heart problems, so off he went -- to complete his career as the game's all-time leading scorer and perhaps its greatest player at the time of his retirement.
The 76ers, however, would repeat the Warriors' mistake. Jan. 15, 1965:
July 9, 1968:
Philadelphia traded Chamberlain to the Los Angeles Lakers for Darrall Imhoff, Archie Clark and Jerry Chambers.
Skinny: Clark averaged 18.1 points over three seasons in Philly and Imhoff was a double-figure scorer over two seasons. Chambers never reported.
Chamberlain, however, was the reigning MVP and would lead the Lakers to a title in 1972.
The bottom line is clear. When an All-Star is traded for non-All-Stars, no matter how many of them, the team that gets the All-Star wins.