With the 2024–25 season in the rearview and several months to go before the next campaign tips off, NBA teams are actively rebuilding their squads. Against the backdrop of trade rumors and speculation, Paul Pierce spoke about the league’s future and sent a clear message to the Boston Celtics regarding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“I think this is the year, coming up, to where you’re like, ‘OK, this is a transition year, let’s evaluate everything,’” Pierce predicted for the Celtics in a recent conversation with Paul George on Podcast P. “I still think their window is open. I hope they don’t trade JB. As long as you’ve got Tatum and Brown, you can figure out the other pieces.”
The 2008 Finals MVP elaborated on what the two All-Stars bring to the table. “They are in their prime. So you can say in the next six years, let’s see what’s up with these two… If you can surround that around JB and Tatum, you just got to refigure it out now,” he said.
“You looked at the team, when they won last year, you like, ‘Man, this team could be a dynasty, because they were all relatively young, they didn’t already been through their growing pains,” continued Pierce. “But you start to understand the business of it now, because this is new ownership.”
Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce.
Pierce says the NBA is about to change forever
Pierce then offered an intriguing take on how the NBA’s future will be shaped by franchise owners making more financially driven decisions. “These owners, they’re fans of the team, but they’re businessmen. They’re like, ‘Yeah, I want to win, but I don’t want to get taxed over taxed,” explained the Boston icon.
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“That’s going to change the way they built teams now. I don’t know if you’re going to see any more superteams,” Pierce reflected, making it clear that it will be increasingly difficult to see teams with three or four superstars staying together for multiple years. “It’s going to be the end of dynasties.”
Pierce points to the Thunder and Pacers as examples
To illustrate his point, Paul Pierce used the two teams that reached the NBA Finals last season as examples. “You saw Indiana this year, they got a bunch of guys that were really good, had a lot of gap,” he began, before drawing a contrast with the Thunder.
“In the case of OKC, they’re going to come up on this problem in a couple of years, because you got to pay Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), he’s going to make the super max. Then you are going to figure out what you’re giving Jay (Jalen Williams), he’s probably worth the max 2. What about Chet (Holmgren)? What are you going to do with the rest of these guys?” Pierce asked.
For now, Shai secured a record-breaking contract after helping Oklahoma City win the NBA championship, locking in $285 million over the next four years. If Williams and Holmgren continue to perform at a high level in the near future, they’ll likely expect major deals of their own—and at some point, the financial situation could become unsustainable for the 2025 NBA champions.
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