NBA: Pierce: OKC meets championship criterion.

Paul Pierce will enter the next season after his career as an ESPN expert has ended.During a conference call, he also spoke to SPOX about the newly formed Celtics, the trade of Isaiah Thomas, teams like OKC and his retirement ceremony.

Question: Mr.Pierce, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford are called the new Big Three in Boston.How do you see the trio compared to your Master Big Three around Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and you?

Paul Pierce: They are called Big Three because they are three All-Stars.Kyrie and Gordon are much younger than we were.Time will tell whether one of them can pursue a hall-of-fame-career or win a title together.In any case, you have a great chance to win a championship at the Eastern Conference.

Question: So you think Boston can make it to the finals?

Pierce: Hayward and Irving was a big step forward.In addition, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are two good young players who are real wild cards.On the other hand, it’s also hard to do that in the first season.It was unique for us at the time that we were able to do it right away.A lot of things just have to be right.The chemistry has to be there, the players have to stay healthy.

Question: You’ve been training with Tatum in Boston.He could already be in the Starting Five at the start of the season.How did you perceive it and what can you expect from it?

Pierce: He was only in college for a year, but when I talked to him, he seemed very mature and mature and not rookie to me.He is very self-confident and knows what he wants to achieve, and this is also evident in his playing.He plays the game at his own pace, doesn’t do anything hasty.It’s really rare.I think he can already help Celtics win a lot of games.He may not be rookie of the year because he gets fewer rookies than other rookie players, but he will win a lot more games than the other lottery picks.

Question: Are you surprised by how quickly Danny Ainge has managed to build a new team since the end of your era?

Pierce: When Kevin and I were traded, that was the foundation for the future with all the picks from the Nets.This made the rebuild quite uncomplicated, especially since they acquired further picks.They put themselves in a very good position early on – so I am not really surprised by their current situation.

Question: The trade of Isaiah Thomas has caused a lot of turbulence.IT was very frustrated.What advice do you have for him?

Pierce: I can understand Thomas’ frustration.He gave everything for the franchise, even played for her after his sister died.He also fought through injuries.Surely he thought it would be rewarded.But at the end of the day, we all have to realize that the NBA is a business that we are all players of.That means: no matter what you show, no matter what you sacrifice: it’s about the franchise, not about you.He has to understand that and get over it.He should see it as an extra motivation for the coming season.

Page 1: Pierce about the new Celtics and the Thomas-Trade

Page 2: Pierce about the Allen conflict, super teams and OKC’s chances