NBA Rumors: Why Boston Celtics Need to Trade Paul Pierce

The Boston Celtics could hope their aging squad miraculously makes it through the compressed NBA season and goes on to win the title, but let's be real—both of these things aren't going to happen.

In that regard, they need to trade star Paul Pierce and begin a new era.

On Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote:

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"Does ownership and general manager Danny Ainge go for the complete rebuild and trade Paul Pierce before the March 15 deadline? Several contending teams have inquired about Pierce's availability. As one Eastern Conference official said, there are 'lots of calls asking if [Boston] will blow it up.'"

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Obviously, trading a player of Pierce's caliber is never easy. After all, Pierce is a nine-time All-Star and won the NBA Finals MVP in 2008. He's been the heart and soul of the Celtics long before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived in Boston.

But Pierce is also a 34-year-old forward whose play has dipped this season. He's shooting under 40 percent, is an injury risk who has already missed three of the Celtics' 12 games and the Celtics have started out 4-8.

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge has a choice, but at the moment it appears he's on the edge.

Wrote Chad Ford of ESPN in Wednesday's chat:

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"Just don't think it will be possible for Ainge to start over in such a compressed season. Maybe...and he's not afraid to be active. But it's going to be tough. It's hard to blame Danny Ainge for going for it again this year, but it's starting to look like the Celtics are out of gas."

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If Pierce is traded before the March 15 deadline, you can bet Ainge is going to hold out for as long as he can. Struggles or not, trading someone like Pierce away is like losing an arm for the Celtics organization.

But this is actually the most logical time to deal Pierce. With the compressed season, there are more back-to-back games, which makes it even more unlikely that the aging Celtics will make a run at the title. They are already looking vastly slower than last season, especially on defense, and when the Celtics' defense goes, so does the team (hence, the 4-8 record).

Many believe the Celtics made the wrong move trading center Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green last season, but they at least had the right idea. By grabbing Green, they had a potential piece to take over at small forward when Pierce was done.

This is the thinking that must continue for the Celtics to start a new era and make another run at the championship. Even if the Celtics trade Pierce for an expiring contract, they are set up for the future because they will have more room to make signings during free agency.

This is the time for Ainge to cut his losses and get down to business. Moping around and living in the past won't get the Celtics anywhere. The Celtics must face "The Truth."