Trading Larry Sanders did not upset Arne Trem, as fundamentally, this was the legacy of his predecessor.
He persuaded Yu Fei to keep Sanders simply because the Clippers lacked positive resources, with Sanders being one of the few presentable players.
As long as the Clippers were willing to trade Sanders, they could call any team.
However, whom to get in return for Sanders became a problem.
In the meantime, the Celtics, determined to rebuild, had placed Paul Pierce on the shelf for some time.
Yet, few teams could offer a deal satisfying to Ainge.
Even with Pierce turning 36 in two months, and his average output no longer justifying the status of a star forward, Ainge still believed he could sell Pierce at a high price.
Because he was willing to accept other teams' bad contracts as long as they gave him draft picks, no matter how undesirable the contracts were.
However, this year turned out to be a slow year in the free agent market.
