Kemba Walker has told the Charlotte Hornets of his intention to sign with the Boston Celtics when free agency officially begins. Walker will finalize a formal agreement for a four-year, $141 million deal with the Celtics, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Walker averaged 25.6 points, 5.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds last season, playing in all 82 games. The 29-year-old three-time All-Star earned All-NBA Third Team Honors last year, his best season as a pro. Walker spent the first eight years of his career in Charlotte, reaching the playoffs just twice. The Hornets failed to put sufficient talent around the talented point guard. Walker is the only Hornets' player to make an All-Star team since he was drafted ninth overall in 2011. Boston can renounce the rights to restricted free agent point guard Terry Rozier to clear the necessary cap space to ink Walker to a max contract. Walker will replace All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, who plans to leave the Celtics after just two seasons to join the Brooklyn Nets. Irving has an agreement in place with the Nets on a four-year, $141 million contract.
All-Star Kemba Walker will sign with the Celtics and replace the departing Kyrie Irving as Boston's starting point guard. (AP Photo)
The Hornets declined to offer the supermax contract to Walker, paving the way for the former UConn star to leave in free agency. Charlotte's unwillingness to move Walker at last season's trade deadline could set the franchise back for years. Walker was the team's only attractive asset, yet management opted to keep him in an attempt to reach the postseason. Charlotte failed to reach its goal and missed the playoffs for the third straight season. As for Walker, he finally gets the chance to play with formidable talent. He is set to join a starting lineup that will include Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and former All-Star Gordon Hayward.
Jason Kidd will no longer be on the Nets' sidelines... Is the former point guard headed to Milwaukee? (David Butler II USA TODAY Sports)
Jason Kidd is one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. Kidd, who ranks No. 2 on the league’s all-time assists list, is the best player to wear a Nets uniform since the franchise merged from the ABA to the NBA in 1976.
A former human highlight reel, Kidd reformed the culture of the hapless Nets in his playing days. The future Hall of Famer led the franchise to consecutive Finals appearances in 2002-2003.
Within weeks of calling it quits on his prolific 19-year career, Kidd was hired to coach the Brooklyn Nets (despite zero coaching experience) last summer on a four-year, $10.5 million contract.
The Nets entrusted Kidd to spearhead a roster with the highest payroll in NBA history – $100 million, plus $90 million more in luxury tax—that featured Hall of Famers’ Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, as well as All-Stars’ Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson.
The star-studded roster got off to an abysmal start to the season though, posting a 10-21 record as the 2013 calendar year commenced. Kidd and the Nets eventually turned things around, despite a season-ending foot injury to Lopez, registering 34 wins versus 17 losses to end the season with a 44-38 record.
Entering the postseason as the No. 6 seed in the historically weak Eastern Conference, the Nets were able to defeat the upstart Toronto Raptors in seven games, thanks to the clutch heroics of the age-defying Pierce. With the series victory, the Nets advanced to the second-round for the first time since the franchise moved to Brooklyn. The team would go no further in the postseason, though, after being dispatched in five games in the Conference Semifinals by the Miami Heat.
The general consensus was that Kidd’s first season was mediocre. Sure, he made a brilliant decision to insert Shaun Livingston into the starting lineup following Lopez’s injury. This shifted Pierce into the power forward position and Garnett to center, creating a highly effective unit that created matchups nightmares for the opposition. In particular, teams struggled to guard Pierce, who used his speed (diminishing, albeit) to drive past the power forwards guarding him.
The lineup switch, however, was the lone adjustment Kidd successfully made. His coaching deficiencies were exposed in the series against Miami. The Nets collapsed down the stretch in Games 2, 4 and most notably Game 5 of the series. Erik Spoelstra coached circles around Kidd, who was unable to put his team in proper position to execute in late-game situations. Kidd’s out-of-timeout plays often resulted in one-on-one situations that Joe Johnson failed to deliver.
A decent NBA coach would have at least pushed the Nets-Heat series to six games. A great coach may have helped the Nets push the Heat to seven games, or even win the series. But the Heat, coming off consecutive championships, exposed the Nets’ biggest flaw—the inexperienced Kidd.
Handed a win-now roster, Kidd failed to make the most off his team. Kidd never got the best out of point guard Deron Williams, who was a no-show in the 2014 playoffs. He barely let Garnett surpass the 20-minute mark in playing time throughout the postseason, despite management basically trading away the club’s future to acquire him and Pierce last offseason.
With just a year of head coaching under his belt, Kidd had the nerve to demand a promotion from ownership. In addition to coaching, Kidd wanted to become the overseer of basketball operations, placing him a title above current GM Billy King. The Nets’ ownership scoffed at Kidd’s ludicrous request, denying him the chance to supplant King.
The Nets did everything they could to keep Kidd happy this season, yet he still wanted more this offseason.
"Nothing was ever good enough for Jason," said one league source close to the situation, according to ESPN New York. "He always had to be appeased on personnel, and he would play Monday morning quarterback if it didn't work out. It was like a kid constantly asking for new toys to stay happy. ... If he doesn't get what he wants he sits in the corner and sucks his thumb and pouts until he gets it, and he doesn't care about the consequences."
The Nets appeased Kidd last offseason with the hire of Lawrence Frank as assistant head coach. King and owner Mikhail Prokhorov agreed to make Frank the league's highest-paid assistant, yet within weeks of the season were asked by Kidd to dump Frank. Kidd felt Frank overstepped his boundaries. He told management he would pay off the remainder of his Frank’s lucrative contract if the assistant was demoted. Kidd failed to deliver on that promise, forcing ownership to eat Frank’s contract before it was essentially even signed.
Turning a blind-eye on the soda-spilling incident (dubbed “sodagate”), the Nets’ brass was more than accommodating to Kidd. Yet Kidd could not how handle how former players’ Steve Kerrand Derek Fisher, neither of whom had any coaching experience, were handed hefty five-year, $25 million deals to coach the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks, respectively.
After seeing Kerr and Fisher get paid much more than he did, Kidd thought it was fair to ask for general management duties.
"He wanted it all," one league source said, according to ESPN New York.
Kidd’s aggressive plea infuriated the Nets’ ownership.
Following Kidd’s failed power play with the Nets, he asked for—and was granted—permission to interview with the Milwaukee Bucks.
New Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry is reportedly close with Kidd after stints as a Nets minority owner and as Kidd’s financial adviser. The Bucks currently have a head coach in Larry Drew and a GM in John Hammond. However, the Bucks ownership seems willing to give Kidd the power he is looking for (which all but spells the end for Drew and Hammond).
The Bucks have already begun discussing compensation with the Nets so that they can release Kidd of his current contract. It is expected that the Bucks will surrender multiple second-round draft picks to the Nets in exchange for Kidd.
Taking on the Bucks head coaching job seems like a steep challenge for Kidd. If he could not get the best of Williams, Johnson, Pierce and Garnett, how will he handle the mess that is the Bucks roster? Outside of first-round pick Jabari Parker and the “Greek Freek” Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is nothing appealing about the Bucks, who finished with a league-worst 15-67 a season ago.
There is speculation that Kidd may begin his Bucks’ tenure as just the GM/team president.
“I can see Jason waiting until the Bucks are good enough, and then coaching them," said a league source, according to ESPN New York.
The Bucks’ ownership is taking a severe risk if they decide to implement Kidd into general managing duties. The Nets took a gamble on Kidd and now look where they are—cap-strapped and facing the impending free agency of Pierce, the emotional leader of last year’s team.
Kidd left the Nets, a team that will in all likelihood reach the playoffs next season, after refusing to get his way. How long will it take for him to leave Milwaukee when his excessive demands are not met by the Bucks’ ownership? Time will only tell for Kidd, who has little chance of rebuilding the struggling Bucks franchise.
Paul Pierce and the Brooklyn Nets defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat, 88-87, Tuesday night in South Beach. The win completed a four-game season-sweep for the Nets at the hands of the defending champion Heat. The victory helped Pierce edge LeBron yet again, calling into question the head-to-head results between the two forwards in their storied careers. So, how has the Pierce vs. LeBron rivalry played out over the years?...
Regular Season History: Paul Pierce
vs LeBron James
Paul Pierce leads the overall head-to-head matchup versus LeBron James,
19-15, according to Basketball Reference.
Below lists each season
in which Pierce and LeBron squared off and the series result from that year.
This list only includes games in which both forwards were
playing. The parenthesis show the number of games in which the specified player won (and lost) against the other opponent. For example, Pierce won the 2003-2004 season-series versus LeBron three games to one.
Season Winner Loser
2003-2004 Pierce, Celtics
(3-1) LeBron, Cavs
2004-2005 LeBron, Cavs (2-1) Pierce,
Celtics
2005-2006 LeBron, Cavs (3-0) Pierce,
Celtics
2006-2007 LeBron, Cavs (1-0) Pierce,
Celtics
2007-2008 LeBron, Cavs (2-1) Pierce,
Celtics
2008-2009 (Split
season-series, 2-2)
2009-2010 Pierce, Celtics
(2-1) LeBron,
Cavs
2010-2011 Pierce, Celtics
(3-1) LeBron,
HEAT
2011-2012 Pierce, Celtics
(2-0) LeBron,
HEAT
2012-2013 LeBron, HEAT (2-1) Pierce,
Celtics
2013-2014 Pierce, NETS (4-0) LeBron,
HEAT
Player Statistics, provided by Basketball Reference
·As it reads above, Pierce has
collected two series' wins, while LeBron has recorded two series' victories as well. (LeBron has
a 13-12 edge in overall wins in the four playoff series')
Paul Pierce looks to dribble past LeBron James. (Frank Franklin II/AP)
Further review on the four
series' played between Pierce and LeBron:
2008: Celtics, the No. 1 seed, defeated
the Cavs, the No. 4 seed, in seven games.
2010: Celtics, the No. 4 seed,
upset the Cavs, the No. 1 seed, in six games.
2011: HEAT, the No. 2 seed,
defeated the Celtics, the No. 3 seed, in five games.
2012: HEAT, the No. 2 seed,
defeated the Celtics, the No. 4 seed, in seven games.
Paul Pierce hits one of his five 3-pointers over Kevin Love. (Andrew Theodorakis/ NY Daily News)
Paul Pierce
scored a game-high 22 points as the Brooklyn
Nets thrashed the Minnesota
Timberwolves 114-99 on Sunday night at Barclays
Center for their franchise record-tying 13th straight home victory.
For
the second consecutive game, Pierce had a flawless first quarter shooting
performance. Pierce registered 16 points in the opening period, just two nights
after recording 17 in the first quarter of the Nets’ victory over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers. In his past two opening quarters combined, he is a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, including 8-for-8 from three-point territory, as well as 5-for-5 from the free throw line in 17 minutes played. This is
the first time in Pierce’s storied career that he has totaled at least 16
points in back-to-back first quarters.
As
Pierce continues to dominate, his confidence in his team’s ability to make some
noise in the upcoming postseason has risen as well.
"Wherever
we end up in the seedings, bring 'em on,” Pierce said.
Foul
trouble limited Pierce to just 26 minutes of action, but the Nets were able to
feed off his hot start with an all-around team effort.
Joe Johnson
chipped in 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, while Shaun Livingston and Mason Plumlee added 13 points apiece in
the win. Plumlee continues to shine in the absence of Kevin Garnett, who has missed 16 straight games due to back spasms.
Garnett is targeting Friday versus the Detroit
Pistons for his return to the court. The Nets have won 12 of 16 with
Garnett sidelined.
The
Nets’ bench had another solid outing, outscoring the Wolves’ reserves 41-23. Andray Blatche led the Nets’ backups in
scoring with 14, corralling six rebounds in the win. Alan Anderson drained three treys in a 13-point showing, adding
five rebounds as well.
The
Nets boast one of the deepest rosters in the league, a reason why the club was
able to turn their season around after a dismal 10-21 start to the season.
"I
think a lot of teams with bad character, bad leadership in the locker room
would've laid down a long time ago. Probably by Christmas would've been making
summer plans," Pierce said. "But not this group."
Paul Pierce, The Truth, has been traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster deal. There is no better time to reminisce his Boston career.
Pierce is arguably the fourth greatest player in the famed history of the Boston Celtics. Only 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell, three-time NBA champion Larry Bird and franchise all-time leading scorer and eight-time champion John Havlicek had more accomplished careers with Boston than Pierce.
Pierce played 15 years in Boston, leading the Celtics
to the playoffs 10 times, reaching the Finals twice and winning the NBA
Championship and Finals MVP in 2008. Pierce will be remembered as the greatest pure
scorer in Celtics history. He accumulated the second-most points in franchise
history (20th in NBA History as of now) with 24,021 points, trailing only
Havlicek, who spent 16 seasons with the Celtics. Pierce averaged the
second-most points in franchise history, registering 21.8 points per game,
behind Bird, who totaled 24.3 points per contest. Pierce ranks 9th in NBA history for points scored with one franchise.
Pierce holds the franchise record in steals,
three-pointers made (5th all-time in NBA history as of now) and free throws
made (10th all-time in NBA history as of now). Pierce also ranks 3rd in games
played, 3rd in minutes, 4th in assists, 7th in rebounds and 4th in blocks in franchise history.
But Pierce will not just be remembered because he
re-wrote the record books in the renowned history of the Celtics. He will
be known for being the most loyal player of his time, remaining with one
franchise for a decade and a half in an era "where players change teams as
often as they change socks,” to quote former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers.
Pierce did not bolt to another team in the tough
times, like LeBron James resorted to doing by joining the Miami Heat. He did not demand a trade when the future of the team
looked murky, like Kobe Bryant and so many other star players of this era did.
Pierce never attempted to force a trade (like Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard succumbed to doing). Instead, he trusted the management and owners to put the proper pieces around him necessary to
win a title. Following the dismal 2006-2007 season that included a team-worst 18-game losing streak, Pierce was pressed on whether he should command to be moved to a contender.
“I thought about it. I really did," Pierce admitted. “Told
my family that I was thinking about asking to be traded. But something just
pulled at me, told me to stick around.”
In
the summer of 2007, Danny Ainge rewarded Pierce's loyalty with the acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
A starting lineup of Pierce, Garnett, Rajon Rondo,
Kendrick Perkins and Allen won 66 games in the regular season. Alas, the Celtics
needed the heroics of Pierce to win the title.
In a Game 7 battle for the ages, Pierce outdueled
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2008 Eastern Conference
Semifinals at the TD Garden, scoring 41 points in the series-deciding contest.
In the Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons,
Pierce was able to score 11 of his 27 points in the 4th quarter of the series-clinching Game 6,
leading the Celtics to their first trip to the Finals since 1987.
The Celtics faced off against their longtime rivals
in the Finals, but the Los Angeles Lakers were no match for the Green and White. Despite spraining his MCL in Game 1 of the series, Pierce managed to outshine Bryant in the Finals. Pierce earned the Finals MVP award, posting 21.8 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the series.
Pierce finally won the championship ring he coveted
for so long, helping him stand parallel to the Celtics legends.
Paul Piece holding the Finals MVP trophy in 2008, moments after winning the title. (AP)
The Celtics had no championship hangover for the
2008-2009 season. Boston started the season off 27-2 (best start in NBA history) and looked unstoppable in the process. Heartbreak
struck in February of 2009 in Utah as Garnett hit the floor with a knee
injury, forcing him into season-ending surgery months later. The
Celtics still fought hard that postseason without Garnett and made it to the Conference
Semifinals, before losing to the Orlando Magic in seven games. Had Garnett
remained healthy, the Celtics would have almost certainly made it to the Finals
against the Lakers for a championship rematch. It should be noted that the Lakers would have been the clear cut favorites in the series, even had the Celtics retained their health that year. The real shame, though, in Garnett getting hurt is that it robbed the Celtics of a true chance to defend their title.
Garnett hobbled his way through the duration of
the 2009-2010 regular season as the Celtics stumbled into the playoffs as the
fourth seed. But the Celtics were able to upset the Cavaliers
(forcing James to depart to South Beach) in the Conference Semifinals and
then defeated the Magic in six games in the Conference Finals.
The Celtics led the Lakers 3-2 in
the 2010 NBA Finals, before starting center Perkins tore his ACL in Game 6 of the Celtics' blowout loss in Los Angeles. The Celtics lost a hard fought battle in
Game 7, 83-79, as the team got pounded on the glass, getting out-rebounded
53-40. If Perkins were healthy for that game, the Celtics rebounding issues
would not have been as severe and the Celtics would have been in prime position to snatch the game and the title.
Pierce will beloved in Boston forever after restoring
the glory of the franchise by capture the 2008 NBA title. Pierce probably should have won two titles had it not been for unprecedented bad luck in 2010. But luck is a part of sports sometimes, and the Celtics unfortunately ran into consecutive years of cruel misfortune with the injuries to Garnett in '09 and Perkins in 2010. Regardless of the amount of rings Pierce won
in Boston, he will always be treasured for his loyalty, his passion and his ability reestablish Boston as a basketball-first city.
The future Hall of Famer had so many great moments that I
have yet to mention, so let’s go through some of his his career bests:
2002 Regular Season Contest Versus Nets (in New Jersey)
Pierce went 1-for-16 shooting with just two points in the first half, before becoming unstoppable in the second half and overtime. He scored 46 points after intermission to guide the Celtics to an overtime victory.
2002 EASTERN CONFERENCE
QUARTERFINALS GAME 5: 76ers at Celtics
In the deciding game of the opening round, Pierce lit
up the Philadelphia 76ers for a playoff career-high 46 points, including going 8-10
from three-point range. The Celtics advanced to the Conference Semifinals after
throttling the 76ers by 33 points.
2002 EASTERN
CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 3: Nets at Celtics
The Boston Celtics entered the fourth quarter of Game
3 of the Eastern Conference Finals down 74-53 to the New Jersey Nets in front
of their home crowd.
Pierce cemented himself as a Celtic legend in this incredulous
comeback, scoring 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter (connecting on six layups in the final frame) as the Celtics
rallied from what was a 27 point deficit in the third quarter to win and
complete the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history.
2003 EASTERN
CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS GAME 4: Pacers at Celtics
Pierce had the Garden unconscious, scoring 32 of his 37 points in the second half. He set a a
Celtics franchise record that day for most points in one half in a playoff game. The
most memorable sequence of the game came when Pierce trashed talked Al Harrington
with the ball in his hands for most of the shot clock before draining the
three-pointer.
2006 Regular
Season Game Versus Cleveland Cavaliers
Paul Pierce was awe-inspiring on this night in a clash
with LeBron. Pierce scored a career-high 50 points, the most ever totaled in the
TD Garden (circa 1995). The Cavs, however, won the game.
2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE
SEMI-FINALS GAME 7: Cavs at Celtics
As previously noted, this was a shootout for the ages
between Pierce and James. It drew comparisons to the 1988 battle between Bird and Dominique Wilkins. Pierce hit clutch shot after clutch shot as he
registered 41 points to put away the Cavs and save the Celtics season.
2008 NBA
FINALS GAME 1: Lakers at Celtics
After landing awkwardly on his leg (he sprained his MCL) after
a made basket by Bryant in the third quarter, Pierce had to be carted off
on the court in a wheel chair. He returned minutes later and proceeded to knock
down three 3’s as part of a 15 point quarter for the Truth. The Celtics won
Game 1 behind the efforts of Pierce, 105-98.
2008 NBA
FINALS GAME 4: Celtics at Lakers
The Lakers entered Game 4 (trailing 2-1) with an
extreme sense of urgency and pounded the C’s in the first quarter, jumping out
to a 35-14 lead, the largest first-quarter lead in NBA Finals history. The Celtics appeared doomed as they trailed
by 18 points at halftime. By the midway point of the third quarter, the Lakers
had increased their lead to 24 over the Celtics.
The Celtics stormed back as Pierce posted a game-high 20 points to spearhead the
Celtics to the victory, the largest comeback in Finals history since
1971.
2008 NBA
FINALS GAME 6: Lakers at Celtics: BANNER 17
As previously noted, Pierce won Finals MVP after the
Celtics obliterated the Lakers, 132-93 to win their 17th
title in franchise history.
2009 EASTERN CONFERENCE
QUARTERFINALS GAME 5: Bulls at Celtics
In a key game in one of the best series of all time
between the Chicago Bulls and Celtics, Pierce stayed true to his flair
for the dramatic by knocking down a jumper with three seconds remaining in overtime
over John Salmons that helped the Celtics win a pivotal Game 5. The Celtics closed out the Bulls in seven games.
2010 Eastern
Conference Quarterfinals Game 3: Celtics at Heat
Paul Pierce ended any chance of a long series
between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, knocking down a buzzer-beater in
Game 3 in South Beach to silence an already quiet crowd. Dwayne Wade was spotted crying in soft tears on the bench after fouling out. The Celtics won
the series in five games, forcing Wade to beg LeBron to join forces in Miami.
2010 NBA
FINALS GAME 5: Lakers at Celtics
Pierce racked up a game-high 27 points as the Celtics
defeated the Lakers 92-86 to take a 3-2 series lead, before losing in
devastating fashion in seven games.
2012 Regular
Season Contest Versus Charlotte Bobcats
Pierce passed Bird to move into second place on
the franchise's list of all-time leading scorers in a 94-84 win over the
Charlotte Bobcats at TD Garden on February 8, 2012. Pierce buried a 3-pointer
from the right wing with 10:23 to play in the third quarter to move past Bird. Surpassing
Bird in points scored helped remind fans just how legendary Pierce was for
Boston.
2012 EASTERN
CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 5- Celtics at Heat
Pierce drained a three-point dagger over James to
seal the victory for the Celtics. The shot is now being referred to as “The Last Shot” as this became the final memorable playoff moment for Pierce as
a member of the Boston Celtics. This was a cold-blooded shot right in LeBron's mouth.
