They're all competing. That's what I love about this situation that's a little bit different than what we've had. There's no politics. The best players are going to play.

He'll be with us when training camp opens.

Things like that don't bother me. Just one week ago, Paul said he wanted to play his whole career in one uniform. It's important for us to keep all our players in the right frame of mind, and it would be great if everyone felt good about everything for the whole year. But that's not the way the NBA season works. All I know is I talk to Paul and he tells me he wants to keep together and get better.

I have no plans to trade Paul Pierce.

Marcus Banks had three years here, to play, and he had three coaches (Jim O'Brien, John Carroll, Doc Rivers) that weren't real excited about him. I think Marcus is a good player, but I don't think (there was) impatience, certainly not like a Joe Johnson or Chauncey Billups situation, you know, rookie players that were very high (draft) picks.

I think that Doc is a guy that can be with the same group for a long time because I feel that the young players today need a tough-minded coach. They need to practice. They need to watch film. I think that he's going to be better next year than this year.