MIAMI — The Nets paid a heavy price in both dollars and draft picks to bring Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett from Boston to Brooklyn last summer.
But now that the Nets are headed into the offseason following Wednesday’s season-ending 96-94 loss to the Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the question will be whether they paid that price for only one year of production from the two future Hall of Famers.
“I really haven’t put any thought into it,” said Pierce, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. “I put my whole focus into this season. This was my last year of my contract.
“I’m going to sit back, talk to the family, see my options and go from there, and see what’s best not only for myself but my family.”
Despite Pierce’s seemingly non-committal answer about his future — not to mention Garnett’s decision to leave the arena without speaking to reporters — all indications are both Pierce and Garnett, who has one year remaining on his contract at $12 million, will return to Brooklyn next season after the Nets sent three draft picks and the right to swap a fourth to the Celtics to acquire them.
Ultimately, the Nets fell short of their stated championship dreams, and the two aging icons lost to their oldest and most bitter rivals for the third time in four years.
“We came up short on our goal,” Pierce said. “Most times when you shoot for high goals and you fail at it, you look at it as a stepping stone to get better, to learn from.
“So, although we didn’t accomplish our goals, we have to learn from it and see coming in next year, whether I’ll be here or the guys come in here they have to understand this is the precedent that we set. … going forward next year for the organization, making the first round last year, making the second round, this organization is headed in the right direction.”
After the game, both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were asked about beating Pierce and Garnett once again, and both credited the two future Hall of Famers for being worthy adversaries over the years, and giving them a target they would have to surpass.
“I don’t think you ever bury these guys,” Wade said with a smile after saying before the series he and the Heat thought they had, in fact, “buried” them. “They’re unbelievable competitors. I don’t know if we even really want to [bury them] … they bring something out of you. We’ve had some unbelievable battles versus those guys, and I think we can credit them for the team we are today.
James, in fact, reiterated his decision to come to Miami was based on having lost to the Pierce and Garnett-led Celtics in two of his final three years in Cleveland, and knowing he wouldn’t be able to defeat them on his own.
“Obviously when I was in Cleveland, it was a hump I couldn’t get over,” James said. “I knew from that point that I needed some help. I seen the way they played the game, with Ray [Allen] and Paul and KG and [Rajon] Rondo and the chemistry those guys have, the weapons those guys had, and I knew at that point I needed some help, because I felt like I would face those guys.
“I don’t know if they thought I would go seek help,” he added with a smile, “but I did, and for me to be in this position today where those guys challenged me to become the person and player I am today. … They helped our team become the team we are today because they challenge you in so many facets.
“To be able to compete against those guys in a series is the ultimate for a competitor.”