Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce doesn't shy away from making headlines with his hot takes, and there's a reason why he's known as "The Truth," even if he's only expressing his opinions.
On his "Podcast P," he broke down the state of the Celtics as the team has had a busy week retooling the roster with big trades and personnel moves.
Last Monday, Boston traded Jrue Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Anfernee Simons. The following day, the Celtics agreed to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Atlanta Hawks for Georges Niang.
There have been rumors circulating about Jaylen Brown, a team leader who is coming off his third straight All-Star season, possibly being on the trading block.
Boston will also allow Al Horford, Torrey Craig, Luke Kornet and Drew Peterson to enter free agency, which will open on July 6.
Pierce expressed his frustrations while conceding changes had to be made, given that the team won a championship a year ago, and is now moving on from key pieces of the franchise as the cost of doing business.
"Man, you don't like it because you looked at a team that won (a championship) last year, like 'this team can be a dynasty," said Pierce. "Because they're all relatively young. They've already been through their growing pains. But you start to understand the business of it now because it's new ownership."
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) is said to be in the trade block and forward Jayson Tatum (0) is rehabbing for an Achilles injury.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) is said to be in the trade block and forward Jayson Tatum (0) is rehabbing for an Achilles injury.
Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Porzingis will be in the second year of a two-year, $60 million contract next season and will owe $30.7 million next year. He will turn 30 later this summer, and with a history of injuries, another contract extension likely wasn't viewed as the prudent move by the Celtics.
Like Porzingis, Holiday owed another large sum, $32.4 million, next season and still has another year left on his deal and a player option in 2027-28.
"You know, when new ownership comes in, from what I've seen, from my time in the league all the way up until now, I knew right away it was going to be something. When I was in my second or third year, we had a new owner and they traded everybody."
As Pierce said, in 2003, Boston Basketball Partners LLC purchased the team from Paul Gaston, and Danny Ainge was appointed as the team's general manager. The team would trade away several players, including long-time star Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Tony Battie, Eric Williams and Mike James.
In March, the Celtics were purchased by a group led by private equity executive Bill Chisholm for $6.1 billion.
"Listen, they just paid six billion for a team. You don't want a $500 million payroll. You are in the business of making money at the end of the day. Yeah, you want to win, but you want a cheaper version to try to win. I get it."
According to Spotrac, the Celtics are more than $107 million over the cap for the 2025-26 season. Boston is estimated to have a $238 million tax bill, in addition to the team's roster expenses.