Do you expect Paul Pierce to return to the Boston Celtics as a free agent?
Everyone knows Paul Pierce is a Celtic at heart; he was drafted by the team, gave his best years to the team, and won a championship (and a Finals MVP) with the team. When he retires, he’ll get a Boston press conference and his #34 jersey retired in the rafters with all the other Celtics greats. No one holds the fact that he’s no longer with the team against him - he wasn’t the one who left; the Celtics were the ones that traded him. It was purely business and no one questions his loyalty.That said, since he is under contract with the LA Clippers for the next two years, the Celtics can’t actually sign him as a free agent. Even if he retires, the Clippers would still retain his rights - unless they voluntarily release him, he wouldn’t be eligible to sign with the Celtics for at least another year. And while Clippers coach/president of basketball operations Doc Rivers has said that he would make sure Pierce was able to retire as a Celtic, he’d likely feel very differently about Pierce signing a one-year deal as opposed to a formality of a one-day contract that is typically offered to retiring franchise stars. If the Clippers waived him, they would almost certainly have an agreement in place limiting Pierce to only signing the latter and not the former.Also, the Celtics have a very full roster, with 18 players currently under contract. Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge recognize and appreciate Paul Pierce’s value to the Celtics franchise, but they’re not that sentimental (remember they traded him away in the first place) and a 39-year old who can maybe give you 5 minutes per game just isn’t worth cutting a promising young player, especially if you would have to trade an asset to the Clippers to acquire him.
2011-12 NBA Season: If Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen all retire or leave the Boston Celtics at the same time, will the Celtics still be a consistent playoff presence/threat?
If they were all to disappear with no one added in their stead? No. Primarily though this is about Garnett.People need to understand that the Boston offense that Rondo leads is essentially ineffective. They ranked 27th in the league last year in offensive efficiency, and you're now talking about them losing their best 3 scorers.The good news there is that realistically, it won't be easy to get much worse on offense. The bad news is that the only reason the team is great now is that they have the best defense in the league, which they've had pretty much whenever Garnett's been healthy for the past half decade, and which falls apart when he goes to the bench.
When will Paul Pierce's number be raised in Boston?
After the playoffs Pierce will likely sign a symbolic one day contract so that he officially retires as a Celtic. His number could go up early next season.
Is Paul Pierce a first ballot Hall of Famer?
Yup. NBA Champion (2008) NBA Finals MVP (2008) 9× NBA All-Star (2002–2006, 2008–2011) All-NBA Second Team (2009) 3× All-NBA Third Team (2002–2003, 2008) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1999) NBA Three-Point Shootout champion (2010) He has plenty of accolades and has consistently produced year in and year out. He's never really had an "off year". His stats have declined in recent time due to the additions of KG and Allen, but he still has managed to get good number consistently overall. He is one of the greatest Celtics of all time, 2nd on the Celtics scoring list, 20,000+ points for his career...he will get in for sure on the first try.
Do Paul Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen deserve to have their numbers retired?
Yes, but for the Celtics, Timberwolves and the Sonics/Thunder respectively.(Did the Thunder keep Seattle's retired numbers?)
If Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were to retire at the end of this season, which team would or should retire their jerseys?
It's much more likely that the Timberwolves will retire Garnett's. He was their first superstar franchise player and stayed with the team for 13 seasons. The T-wolves have retired only one number in franchise history, that of the late Malik Sealy, who was Garnett's best friend on the team. Allen's jersey is much less likely to be retired as he hasn't spent as long on one team and wasn't the franchise defining force that Garnett was. Now that the Celtics fell that they've been stabbed in the back by Allen, if his number is retired, it will be by the Bucks.
Why have the Bulls not retired both numbers of Michael Jordan? What would a team do if all numbers are retired?
The bulls retired MJ’s #23, not his #45. It doesn’t make sense to retire a jersey’s number that was “used” for only 22 games.No NBA team retired so many numbers that will come close to getting out of numbers. The Celtics has the most retired numbers (24), the Suns and Portland are far behind with 15 and 13, respectively (so weak correlation between number of retired numbers and team’s glorious history…).So this question is not really on the table, right now. I guess that when it comes close, teams may follow the Lakers (while still in Minneapolis) and chose to “honor” but not officially retire 5 jerseys, so future players can re-use these numbers.
What age do most NBA players retire?
Good players last until they are about 35. Bench guys are usually done around 30. As for guards lasting longer.. Some people think that, but it isn't really true. The 10 oldest players currently in the NBA, 4 of them are guards, 3 of them forwards, 3 of them centers. Out of the 10 oldest players to ever play in the NBA, 3 of them are guards, 4 forward, and 3 centers.. Since centers are only one position, compared to 2 guards and 2 forwards, it seems like centers last the longest. Robert Parish, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Dikembe Mutombo all played into their 40s, while Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, and Penny Hardaway were done in by bad knees before they were 30.
Which future hall of Fammer is going to retire after Kobe Bryant?
Almost all future hall-of-famers will retire after Kobe. Lebron, KD and Steph will all retire after Kobe.If you're asking who will retire next then we can narrow it down to the 5 active players that have played more than 40k minutes. Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.I reckon all 5 of those dudes are HoF candidates. Dirk and Tim still have teams to lead, borderline contending teams at that so they are out. But of the other 3 your guess is as good as mine. If I had to guess I'd say Kevin Garnett, the man came out of highschool a year before Kobe, he's played 50k minutes of NBA basketball and isn't on a contending team.