Celtics forward Paul Pierce is worried about competitive balance in the NBA heading into negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement.

"I think it's going to be a very different kind of year, man," Pierce told the Boston Herald. "You obviously have your teams at the top, your teams in the middle. But the difference this year is that the teams at the top got better, and the teams at the bottom didn't get any better.

"I think that will be a concern -- that things get lopsided for teams at the top -- especially going into a new collective bargaining agreement. They're going to have to try to see how they can balance out this league, especially with the small-(market) teams that can't get the big time players in free agency."

The NBA's current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire after next season. In addition, teams are preparing for the heralded free agency class of 2010.

"It's changed a lot, man," Pierce added. "You have to factor in the economy, factor in rule changes, changes as far as players going to different places, players not getting guaranteed deals - it's changing with the times, man.

"There are guys right now who you think, 'Man, they should be on someone's roster with a guaranteed deal,' but teams are cutting their rosters down to 13 guys, saving their money for a big free agent prize that's coming up.

"It's all moving with the times."