Gerald Wallace Calls The Nets Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett Trade A “Get-Rich-Quick-Scheme”
Things haven’t worked out for the Brooklyn Nets. Last season they assembled one of the noteworthy starting five’s in basketball by trading for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Gerald Wallace knows this well, he was part that trade.
Wallace was sent to the rebuilding Celtics as Pierce and Garnett parlayed to Brooklyn. The expectations were high, but their season under rookie head coach Jason Kidd concluded in a second round, five-game playoff series against the Miami Heat. Pierce, of course, is now in Washington. Wallace gave his reminiscent reaction to the blockbuster trade he was apart of to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
“It was one of those stories of a get-rich-quick scheme. You either hit it big or you don’t,” Wallace said. “They took a gamble. It backfired.”
An accurate analysis from any perspective. Brooklyn took financial and personnel risks, even hiring a head coach with no prior experience to lead a team that was expected to compete for a bid in their conference.
It was an absolute gamble in the words of Wallace, but one that would have been foolish for Brooklyn to pass up on. With their new owner and new environment at Barclays, it actually was the right thinking from an attention standpoint. But if it doesn’t breed success, as Wallace also put it, the plan backfires.
