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Paul Pierce on Celtics trading Rondo: 'I was shocked'

Geoff Burke / US PRESSWIRE

Fans weren't the only ones taken by surprise when the Boston Celtics sent Rajon Rondo to Dallas last week. Paul Pierce was, too.

"I was shocked definitely, because I thought this was a year they were going to maybe this summer find some pieces to put around him," Pierce said Saturday, as reported by the Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett.

The Celtics were reported to be one of the teams trying to acquire Kevin Love last summer, and they'll have cap space to add a top-tier free agent again this year. But with a young, losing team, the pursuit of Love in the rear-view and Rondo himself a pending unrestricted free agent, the team clearly felt continuing down a rebuilding path was they way to go.

"The Celtics were either going to go in one direction, build around him, or continue with the youth movement," Pierce said. "So I think Rondo understood it."

"And Danny (Ainge, Celtics GM) and Wyc (Grousbeck, Celtics co-owner), they've got to make business moves," Pierce added. "You know, 'Do we pay Rondo for the long term and still not be able to build around him, or do we build around the young guys that we've got here.' It's a tough decision when you're in that situation as a general manager or owner.

Pierce was dealt from the Celtics to the Nets along with Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry in the summer of 2013 after 15 memorable seasons in Boston. It was that move  - made while Rondo was still recovering from a torn ACL - that sparked a rebuild following years of contention.

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