The Brooklyn Nets season is officially over. The team managed one win against the Miami Heat during the second round of the playoffs after sweeping them in the regular season. The Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett experiment proved to be a failure considering a championship was the main goal. Now the veterans must determine just how many years they have left in their legs and whether a return to Brooklyn is in the cards.
Pierce's first season in Brooklyn could very well be his last. The team acquired him and Garnett from the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade last offseason as the Celtics opted to rebuild over retaining their long-time veterans. Now at age 36, Pierce is trying to decide how many years he can play and whether another change in teams is in the cards for him.
"I haven't really put much thought into it," Pierce said, via ESPNNewYork.com. "I put my whole focus into this season, it's my last year of the contract. I will sit back and talk to the family and see where my options are from there and go from there. I think I still have something in the tank I can give a team. Maybe one or two (years) at the most."
The original goal in Brooklyn was to pair Pierce and Garnett with Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez to form a starting lineup that had more All-Star appearances between the five of them than most teams had on their entire roster. However, Lopez was lost for the season. Williams missed a chunk of time for his ankles. Garnett could not play more that 13-19 minutes a game thanks to his ailing back. They finished the regular season 44-38 thanks to a second-half turnaround, but Pierce considers it all a disappointment.
"Unfortunately, we wish we had put together a better record," Pierce said. "But it's a brand new team, a lot of new players, got off to a slow start, a lot of injuries but we figured it out. Not where we want it to end today. Obviously the goal is to win a championship. But I am happy to go to war with the guys in here and the resolve they showed all year long."
So what is next for the veteran? A return to Brooklyn may or may not happen. While it is certain the Nets would love for Pierce to return for a few more seasons and finish out his career in Brooklyn, the forward wants to win now and not later and it is too early to tell if the Nets give him that chance. Do the Los Angeles Clippers?
Early rumors have Pierce reuniting with Doc Rivers in free agency. ESPN's Marc Stein reports that if Garnett opts to retire this offseason, Pierce will not return to Brooklyn and could easily bolt out west to the Clippers. This is mere speculation at this point considering Pierce's offseason just started. Both Peirce and Garnett demanded to be a package deal with Boston was first considering a move so if one goes the other will as well. The Clippers have many other issue to iron out before they can even consider targeting free agents, but this does look like a possible landing spot.
Pierce will not play for just any team. He wants to win now and not later. The Clippers are set to do that and the Nets could be as well. It seems unlikely the Lakers or Knicks could pull him in so if Brooklyn is not an option, expect the Clippers to be it.
