We’re counting down the 10 most important developments of the offseason.

No. 2 Paul Pierce's new deal ensures his legacy

The following NBA players have been with their team longer, or as long as Paul Pierce: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki.

That’s a select list, but of all his contemporaries, Pierce is the unlikely survivor. Unlike Duncan and Nowitzki, he had to struggle for his place at the head of the franchise, and unlike Kobe, he didn’t have the validation of immediate championship success.

Pierce has outlasted the coaching changes, regime changes, false hopes and rebuilding projects that claim most other franchise players. The weight of expectations lies heavily on NBA stars and often leads to change. Just this summer, Amar’e Stoudemire left Phoenix. Carmelo Anthony seems to want out of Denver. LeBron James and Chris Bosh obviously went to Miami.

And that’s just the younger generation. On his own team, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal and Shaquille O’Neal have all been traded or signed away. But not Pierce. He stayed through it all and emerged on the other side as the signature player on a signature franchise.

So it was with some consternation this summer when he decided to opt-out of the final year of his contract worth $21.5 million. Perhaps somebody would make an unexpected play for him, or maybe the Celtics would use this as an opportunity to sever ties and go in another direction.

In the end, neither was a likely scenario because Pierce’s desire to stay with the only team he’s ever known meshed perfectly with their preference to make it a reality.

While they weren’t there for the beginning of Pierce’s career, the current owners have been through most of that history together with him, and there was no way they were going to let anyone change the ending.

His three-year deal, with the fourth partially guaranteed, takes him beyond Kevin Garnett’s contract and makes him the only other veteran player, along with Rajon Rondo, that is signed for 2012-13. He took less annual money to do so, but as he told reporters on the day he officially signed his new deal, “I wanted to ensure that I had a chance to retire a Celtic.”

What it also ensures is his legacy. He needs just 101 points to reach 20,000 for his career leaving only Larry Bird and John Havlicek ahead of him on the team’s all-time scoring list. Pierce has long since joined the ranks of great Celtics and now will cement his place in the record book and have a chance to add on to his lone championship. 

But as with everyone on this year’s team, this is more about the present than it is the future. He’ll be 33 years old when the new season starts, which is right on the line between experienced star and aging vet.

He has held up remarkably well considering all the contact he absorbs. But there were more injuries last season and Pierce’s 71 games played was the second lowest non-lockout number of his career. 

With that, he is still remarkably productive and forever willing to put himself on the line to take the last shot.

There is no guarantee what kind of player Pierce will be at the end of this contract. But there is a good chance that when his number is retired one day it will be as a Celtic, and only as a Celtic.

Up next: Doc Rivers goes all-in one more time