Pierce prepared to move on

Paul Pierce reluctantly spoke about Thursday's Celtics-Timberwolves trade following the shootaround yesterday morning in Waltham. At first, he claimed he still needed time to let it all soak in after spending a sleepless night trying to digest the deal that sent Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks, Justin Reed, and two conditional second-round picks to Minnesota for Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones of the development league Florida Flame, and a conditional first-round pick likely to be exercised in 2008.

In the end, it sounded as if Pierce was merely having some fun with the media, though saying goodbye to Davis, a friend, made the deal tough. Pierce did not actually need extra time to adjust to the trade, since he learned a week ago that a deal involving Davis was a distinct possibility.

''I don't know if I'd put it up there with how difficult it was to see Antoine [Walker] go the first time," said Pierce. ''I've played with Antoine more years. I've been further down the road with Antoine. Me and Ricky have only played together a year and a half. We never went anywhere together, as far as playoff success. But I don't look at that. I look at the relationships you build with these guys, the ups and downs you go through together, the time you spend understanding each other, what you go through on and off the court.

''[Ricky and I] were friends long before he ever got to this team. I thought Ricky had a great time here. I thought he was maturing, growing as a player. It's always difficult to lose a friend . . . But it looks like they want to see what happens with the combination of me and Wally. I guess I look at it as a commitment to me."

Pierce will take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to chemistry with Szczerbiak, though he sounded more enthusiastic closer to last night's tipoff against the Sacramento Kings. Pierce does not know Szczerbiak, though he hopes with Szczerbiak in the mix the Celtics are now on their way to establishing a long-term core of players.

''You look at four or five guys and say, 'These are our core guys,' and you build around that," said Pierce. ''Obviously, Ricky was one of our core guys and he's been replaced by Szczerbiak as a core guy. I don't think it's difficult when you have one core guy being replaced as it is if you trade two or three core guys away.

''You expected something to happen, but I didn't expect it to be at this level. It's a business. It's difficult for me. Ricky really committed himself to the city of Boston. He moved his family out here. He just bought a house out here. I know how difficult it is for him and I feel for him."

Executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge also hopes the Celtics are well on their way to establishing a long-term core. He certainly believes they have some pieces in place.

''Right now, I have my idea of the core guys I want to see develop together," said Ainge. ''That can change as the year goes on, but Paul is definitely the key. I would say Paul and Delonte [West] are keys to that right now."

When asked if he saw Pierce with the Celtics long term, Ainge added, ''I do. I see Delonte here long term. Right now, I see Al [Jefferson] and [Kendrick] Perkins here long term and others. But we'll see how they all fit with those other four core guys. We hope Wally can be a core guy, too."

Pierce said the trade did not change his long-term commitment to Boston, his desire to retire a Celtic. But he knows there is a lot of work to be done.

''You look at our record [18-25] and wonder how good was this team going to be this year," said Pierce. ''What did the owners, management want to get out of this team. Obviously, they wanted to shake things up to make a playoff push."

Winging it

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale, and McHale lieutenant Rex Chapman swooped into Boston with a private jet to pick up Blount, Davis, Banks, and Reed, and bring them to Houston, where the Wolves played the Rockets last night. ''I got to talk to [McHale on the flight down] and hear what they really needed," Davis told reporters in Houston. ''We can be a great combination to come out, keep the energy up, and sustain it the whole game. I think it's anybody's dream in the NBA to play with a guy like [Kevin Garnett]." Blount borrowed familiar lines to assess his new situation. ''It's part of the business," he said. ''There's nothing you can do about it. I'm here now. I'm ready to go. The other guys will do a great job of helping me out. Once I get the sets down, then I'll probably try to find out what the counters are to the sets and work my way from there. The Celtics were going in a different direction. That's their choice. I'm here now to work. That's it. There's nothing I can do about it." . . . The Celtics have no immediate plans to promote Jones from his development league team, the Florida Flame. They also plan to keep Gerald Green in the minors as well.