The Boston Herald is reporting that free-agent, Paul Pierce, as re-signed with the Boston Celtics, in a deal that will snag the team captain $61 million with certain options for both sides after the first three.
The four-year deal, is the second step in the Celtics (and President Danny Ainge's) plans to keep the core of the team in-tact.
Earlier this week, the team's future was up in the air, but started to turn slightly around with Doc Rivers announcing that he would, in fact, give it one more shot — opting to not retire and head back to the bench.
The Pierce deal, which can't be signed until next week, comes on the heels of number 34 opting out of the final year of his previous contract and, as a result, becoming an unrestricted free agent at 12:01 Thursday. But, as the Herald wrote, "he took that route with the intention of re-signing with the Celtics in a deal that would help his own future and allow the club better maneuverability."
In the coming season, Pierce will make significantly less that the $21,513,521 he was scheduled to receive, which helps the team's position versus the luxury tax. This indicates that Pierce took, what could be called, a hometown discount in order to stay in Boston and go after the World Championship hardware.
The last outstanding question for the Celtics will be whether or not Ray Allen decides to come back to the team. There are rumors that he spoke with LeBron about a gathering of the basketball studs in Miami — along with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
The Celtics are also looking at Brad Miller, who might be a good Rasheed Wallace replacement (if the retirement reports are true).
Regardless of how the rest of this shakes out, the pieces are coming together for the Celtics.
Article first published as Report: Paul Pierce Re-Signs with Celtics on Technorati.