Paul Pierce has notified the Boston Celtics that he will opt out of the final year of his contract before Wednesday's deadline, which will make Pierce an unrestricted free agent for the first time.

Pierce's agent, Jeff Schwartz, confirmed the decision in a text message to ESPN.com.

By opting out, Pierce forfeits next season's $21.5 million salary and adds another layer of uncertainty to Boston's general outlook in the wake of a wholly unexpected playoff run that took them to within one win of the championship. Ray Allen also becomes an unrestricted free agent this week, while the organization continues to watch for popular coach Doc Rivers to decide if he wants to continue with the team or take a temporary leave from the bench grind to spend more time with family.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/ne ... id=5341636

Smart move by Pierce. That team is being blown up. He needs to get his last big deal before the new collective bargaining agreement. I just hope the Bulls don't end up chasing him if they lose the Lebron sweepstakes.

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What if Thom wants to be reunited?

He's prolly doing this just to get a fatter contract before the new CBA happens. He's not worth max money.

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Yeah, with all these teams having cleared cap space for max contracts*** and the free-agent class basically coming down to 1 guy (assuming Wade is staying in Miami), smart move by Pierce, who becomes a consolation prize for some team that didn't get LeBron.




***knew a law professor named....ah, forget it.