As they advance into their 30s, the Celtics' trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen is fixed on doing more championship damage before the window of opportunity closes on them. That's why they made such a hard run at Rasheed Wallace.
It helps that Wallace shares the goal. "At this point of my career, it's not about the money," said Wallace who signed a three-year free agent contract starting at the mid-level exception (the third year is a player option). "It's about the rings. It's about winning championships. If you're very smart, winning a championship is going to bring you extra money with your endorsements and so on."
Having Pierce, Garnett and Allen fly to Michigan to meet with him drove home the point that the Celtics are all business in their approach to an 18th title for the franchise.
When they spoke with Wallace and his wife, they talked about everything from basketball to the highly-ranked school systems for their children.
"We were going to do everything we could do to get there because we knew he was the one guy that could get us over the hump moving here into this future," said Allen.
"When (the season ended), myself, Paul and Kevin talked about things we needed to do to make the team better. We talked about things we needed to do over the summertime and potential free agents. And Rasheed was at the top of the list."
The group pitch apparently worked.
"When those guys came, it was definitely a good feeling," Wallace said.
