So Does The Thunder Loss Mean Kendrick Perkins Wasn't The Second Coming Of Christ?

So now that the Thunder are out of the playoffs is it time that we finally realize the Kendrick Perkins deal didn't make a lick of difference? In fact there was an article last week that said, "To put a finer point on things, let's replace the word "starters" with "Kendrick Perkins." In his 82 minutes on the court, the Thunder have been outscored by a whopping 32 points. In his 62 minutes on the bench, the advantage has titled nearly as strongly the other way: The Thunder are plus-23.

And those slow starts? They've magically ended at the exact second Perkins departed. Oklahoma City trailed by five in Game 1 before he went out, by nine in Game 2, and by 15 in this one -- 29 points worth of deficits to make up the rest of the night. The Thunder overcame it in Game 2 by scoring on nine straight possessions right after Perk went to the bench; in the other two games, the hill was too big to climb.

Of course, this could just be noise. Sometimes plus-minus fluctuates randomly for reasons that have little to do with a player's performance. After watching the three games, however, this isn't one of those cases. For starters, Perkins has made a limited statistical contribution, with only 11 points and 14 rebounds in the three games. His main function seemed to be going out of his way to run into Tyson Chandler off the ball."

So it happened to the Thunder too. They realized that Perk is just what everyone says he is, "a big body with a mean snarl" he is not a good offensive player and hurts the offense more than helps it and much like when he was with the Celtics, he finds himself on the bench at the end of games because Nick Collison is a better option.

I'm not trying to bad mouth Perkins, but the absolute bashing of the trade needs to finally be put to the end. The Celtics wouldn't have got passed the Heat with Perk, and Perk obviously isn't the guy that puts a contending team over the top. Everyone shut up and stop bad mouthing Ainge.

Breaking News: Perkins Signs Extension (UPDATED)

I don't know how much, but here is a piece from Sham Sports:
By simultaneously acquiring cap space with the underpaid Kenny Perk, OKC can now do a Baltche with him. OKC can use their cap space to renegotiate Perkins's current $4,640,208 salary up to as much $6,696,720. From there, they can concurrently offer a new four year extension totalling a a maximum of $33,818,436, or any number below that that they feel happier with.

Add in the extra negotiated salary, and that's over $35 million for four years that OKC can theoretically offer him, as-near-as-is $9 million per. In contrast, Boston could only offer circa $6 million per. It's a significant difference.

I mean we don't know the full details of the deal yet, but if this were the case all the Celtics could have offered him around 6 million a year with the CBA while OKC gave him what he was expecting in the open market. (maybe a bit of a hometown discount)

This kills the chances of us resigning. Oh well.

***UPDATE***

"Kendrick Perkins' contract extension with Oklahoma City pays him $34.8 million over four years, league source tells Y! Sports (Celticsblog)."

That works out to be an average of $8.7 million a year.

This Hurts

This is like seeing an ex with a new person.

He's out 2-3 weeks, does the trade seem any better?

My Reaction To The Perk Trade

I certainly didn't expect Perkins to be traded in the start of yesterday so when I found the news out, I was shocked. Danny decided to make a series of trades yesteday headlined by Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, and a top 10 protected Los Angeles Clippers 1st round pick.

I first hated it, because I was emotional. We all love Perk, we saw him grow from a fat high school kid to the player he is today. He embodied the Celtics way of doing things, he was a hard worker, a tough kid and gave his all to get back from the MCL injury. And now that he's gone it's if one of your best friends moved across the country, all of us are just a little sad.

But if you lay the trade down on paper, you come away with a couple things. We received the best player in the trade in Jeff Green, Krstic and Perk aren't that far apart, and the difference between Nate and Jeff are gigantic.

People also forget that this team was the best team in the league and beat the Heat twice without Perk, and Perk just injured his knee, is coming off knee surgery and who says we can possibly sign him after this year? Actually the fact is that the Celtics were 33-10 this season without Perkins and only 4-3 with him as a starter. Also, a lot of people forget when the Celtics were in the championship they had James Posey playing the 4, and KG playing the 5. And in crucial times in games this year, Baby has been playing at the end of the 4th. The thing I'm worried about the most is team chemistry, these players have been together for a while now and I heard they were shaken up after the deal. However, they are veterans and professionals, I'm sure they will be able to get over it.

Jeff Green brings a lot of to the table coming off the bench, he's 6 foot 9, a long 6-foot-9, which means he easily fills the role as a backup to Paul Pierce. He has 3-point range. He can play the power forward spot, as well. Krstic also is unique in his own way with him being more of an offensive player then Perk. He has range, his rebounding numbers are gross for his size, but his offensive game give more room for Rondo to penetrate and dish instead of getting clogged up with Perk and his defender.

Also, if we can somehow get a Troy Murphy and Anthony Parker via buyout what do people think of the trade then? I know it's kind of bogus to say wait and see, but trust me, let this develop before you jump the boat because Danny could have just pulled a fast one.

Breaking News: Celtics Trade Perkins For Jeff Green (4 UPDATES - More Trades)

"In a trade deadline stunner, a source confirmed initial reports from Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski and Sam Amick that the Celtics have traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to Oklahoma City in exhange for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic. While the deal occured just before the deadline, another source indicated that the framework was in place earlier in the week (WEEI)."

Wow, this really was a shocker. Green is averaging 15 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Thunder, so he will add some punch to the Celtics 2nd unit. That being said Green's contract is up at the end of the year, and this could just be a rental. I don't know if I like this move. The Celtics are giving up one of their best defensive players, in an area where they are already weak with Shaq out another week, and Jermaine out possibly the rest of the year. Nenad Krstic is going to have to help out the centers unit, and although his stats are similar to that of Perkins, he is not half the defensive player.

I could care less about the Celtics trading away Nate, but Perkins (when healthy) is a big key to this team, and I'm just not sure two bench players make up for that.


***UPDATE***

"The Celtics aren't done dealing. A report from Adrian Wojnarowski has them dealing Semih Erden and Luke Harangody for a second round pick. The real value is in the roster spots that open with Erden and Harangody off the books. The Celtics were at the maximum number of players allowed on an NBA roster with 15 and this clears the way for them to puruse veteran free agents such as Troy Murphy and Rip Hamilton, once they are bought out by their teams (WEEI)."

They better get someone, because they are thinning out their centers way too much.


***UPDATE 2***

"According to a source, the Celtics will also get the Clippers 2012 first-round pick out of the deal (Celticsblog)."

Also, according to DP Jeff Green has a qualifying offer for next year, which makes me feel a lot better about this deal.


***UPDATE 3***

"Celtics have agreed to send Marquis Daniels to Sacramento for cash, source says (Celticsblog)."

Even more cap space cleared out. I expect Murphy, Rip, or Sheed (or any combo of those guys) to be joining the team after they are bought out.

***UPDATE 4***

Here is a quick list of all the trade that happened in the NBA today from ESPN...

Aaron Brooks to the Suns for Goran Dragic.
Semih Erden and Luke Harangody to the Cavaliers.
Gerald Wallace to the Blazers.
Jeff Green to Boston for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson.
Shane Battier to the Grizzlies for Hasheem Thabeet.
Kirk Hinrich to the Hawks for Mike Bibby.
Baron Davis to Cleveland for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.
Deron Williams to the Nets.
Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks.
Carl Landry to the Hornets.
Troy Murphy to Golden State for Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric.
James Johnson to the Raptors.

We will have our thoughts on the rest tomorrow.

Perkins To Miss At Least 3 Games

"A source told CSNNE that Kendrick Perkins is expected to miss the final three games of the Celtics West Coast trip because of a strained left knee MCL. Perkins recently returned from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. He left Tuesday's game with the Warriors early in the third quarter and did not return after banging knees with Golden State's Steph Curry (WEEI)."

That means the Celtics are down to Semih Erden to start at center with Big Baby backing him up. That is really terrible news, and I hope that this isn't anything that will linger with Perkins. The Celtics already have lost Jermaine O'Neal for maybe the rest of the year, Shaq for at least the rest of this road trip along with Perkins. I have given up on Jermaine, but Shaq and Perkins need to be 100% when it gets playoff time, and right now that has to be a little bit of a concern for the Celtics.

Can someone please call Sheed?

Perkins Rejects Celtics Offer

Kendrick Perkins told CSNNE.com on Monday that he recently rejected a four-year offer from the Celtics. The center -- a free agent at the end of the season -- denied earlier reports that the contract offer was for $30 million.

"That wasn't it. They offered me four years, but it was closer to like $22 million," Perkins told Comcast. "You talking four years, $30 million! Shoot, that's different. That's a big difference (WEEI)."

I don't blame Perkins for rejecting that offer. $22 million works out to be $5.5 million a year, which is less that Jermaine O'Neal is getting paid. In my eyes Perkins is worth a 4 year deal for about $32 million ($8 million/yr). I wouldn't go much over that with his injury problems (knee, shoulders). It will be real interesting to see if the Celtics are able to bring him back. My guess is that they will.

112 Celtics, 95 Cavaliers

Perk returned! We all expected him to get back on February 4th, but he convinced Doc and trainer Ed Lacert and he was a go.

All in all it was a great night for the Celtics, we won by 17, Perk returned, Rondo had another double double and KG, Pierce, and Ray all played 25 minutes or under. Which is great figuring they have a tough road trip ahead of them with Portland, Phoenix and the Lakers all waiting for them.

Perk had 7 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists and looked pretty good out there. He's not really an offensive player so 7 in his return is pretty good. Also, BMack pointed it out to me that Perk's shoulders didn't look as wide. Maybe I'm just having a hard time remembering what he looked like before the injury, but his shoulders didn't seem as broad. His interior defense was certainly missed, and it was really good to see him back.

Pierce scored a team high 24 points, while Ray had 18 and 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. This game was pretty much over before it began and the Cavs are just an embarrassment.

KG Back Today, Perk Back Feb 4th

With Jermaine O'Neal most likely opting for season ending surgery their is good news on the horizon. Tonight, KG will come back for Magic game, which they will seriously need him for because they have been a hot team since blowing up their roster. Perk on the other hand is needed, he is the best defensive center in the NBA and him teamed up with Shaq should really make teams terrified of driving to the hoop.

I know their are a lot of woulda, coulda, shouldas with Perk and game 7, and I still believe the Celtics would have lost with him in the line up, however, woulda, coulda, shoulda. The Celtics are going through that boring, cruise control part of the season with keeping an eye on the three in Miami and the new look Magic, so Perk definitely won't hurt.

Also, with Jermaine most likely going down, there will be a NEED FOR SHEED. So get used to some lolli gagging because once that man steps on the court the team effort goes down significantly.

Perk To Come Back Soon

Perk said his return could come sooner than expected. (CSNNE)

"That late-January to early-February return that Perkins was talking about recently? He’s sounding – and looking – like a guy who may be given the green light to resume playing sooner than that. ‘I don’t know,’ Perkins said. ‘Since I got on the court, I think my (return) date probably got pushed up a bit.’ When asked if he was still looking to return next month, he said, ‘hopefully.’"

This addition would do wonders for the Celtics who have been playing well despite being a MASH unit. Perkins is the most underrated player on the Celtics and his importance is pivotal if the Celtics want to win another NBA Championship. Shaq, Jermaine and Semih have already missed time due to injury so the addition of Perk would alleviate minutes that all the big men would be allocated. Semih has been playing with a bum shoulder all season and could probably get it worked on once Perkins comes back. Kendrick is a great defensive presence and would make everyones job easier including KG and Rondo. He like many of the other Celtics players play mean, he intimidates, pushes and pulls opponents and is great at making the opposition lose their cool.

People overlook Perkins, but in game 7 last year he was definitely missed.

Perkins Injury Update

Been a little while since we got a Perkins injury update, so here is the latest. He has been able to do some sprints, which is a great sign since he is recovering from a knee injury.

"I actually feel great. But I do have to be smart. I did have an ACL injury. I'm only three months out of surgery. But I'm sitting back here and watching, and I'm thinking about what I'm going to do when I get back on that court, how I'm going to play my game and help the team. I've lost fat, not muscle. I'm staying in the weight room. I'm on the bike. I walk a lot. I eat right."

Still, don't expect him back for at least a couple of months. Perkins then went on to talk about his role on the Celtics this year...

"OK, listen," he told Boston Herald, "I'm going to put it like this here: I can't do what Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) is doing, and Shaq can't do what I do. I can't do what Jermaine O'Neal does, and Jermaine can't do what I do. So the things that they bring to the table are different than what I bring to the table. See what I'm saying?"

I agree with everything he said there, and it's a great way to look at it. Perkins is a much more defensive player then Shaq or Jermaine, while those guys have a lot more "touch" at the offensive end.

Perkins then went on to make somewhat of a bold claim...

"At the end of the day you can say what you want, but I'm really the captain of the defense. And that won't change."

I always think of Garnett as the captain of the defense, but whatever I see what he is saying. The Celtics have been a great defensive team over the past couple of seasons, and a big reason for that is KG and Perkins shutting down the middle.

I just wish this season would start already.

Cool Perkins Interview

From Sam Magazine:
SLAM: What areas of your game do you still want to improve?

KP: Well, I still wanna get better with my footwork, my speed, my quickness, my athleticism. You know, I’m not an athlete or nothing like that, but you know obviously you wanna get better at weakness that you have, whatever they may be. So if you always got a right-hand hook, you wanna get a left-hand hook. You know, so I’m trying to work on my left hand, doing everything left-handing. Driving left-handed. Doing everything pretty much left handed, because I want it to get just as good as my right hand.

SLAM: The last couple of years you’ve had the opportunity to play with Kevin Garnett, a future Hall of Famer. Has he taught you a lot?

KP: He taught me too much. Seriously, man. He’s been great. He teaches how to be a man, and most of all he teaches to respect and love the game, and work hard. That’s the most that I get out of him—the love, passion and respect that he gives to the game of basketball is unbelievable

SLAM: When Tony Allen left the team, he said he kind of felt overshadowed by some of the other stars on the team. Do you ever feel that way?

KP: Nah. I feel like without them, we wouldn’t be in the position that we are in right now. Without the Big Three forming, we wouldn’t get the TV pub that you get, and everything else you get. So it’s kind of hard to say, “overshadowing.” You’re really supposed to be kinda grateful to be in that situation.

SLAM: It’s been a good couple years in Boston for you. Now your contract runs out soon. What are you thinking?

KP: Well, I’d love to be a Celtic for life, honestly. But, I know this is a business. So we’re gonna see how this year works out and just go from there. But I wouldn’t want to leave Boston; I love my situation. But we just gotta see and go from there, play this year out.

SLAM: People are also always talking about—and this was a big thing in the playoffs—how you scowl on the court. I just wanted to note for the record: You smile a lot. Do you want to tell people why you don’t smile during games?

KP: Man, because, first of all, this is how I feed my family. This is my job. So every time I get on the court, it’s all business. And then, you got a psychopath like KG right on the side of you, so that’s just added fuel to the fire. (Laughs).

Off the court I’m the coolest person.

This is pretty cool, and you have to love Perkins attitude going into next year and about his contract. Believe it or not he will be relied on next year for his grit and defense, esecially in the playoffs. I hope that if healthy and productive the Celtics are able to lock him up. You can't find too many tough defensive Centers in the NBA and Perk is second behind Dwight Howard.

Perkins Surgery Goes Well

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins had successful arthroscopic ligament reconstruction on his right knee yesterday. Perkins had surgery nearly 4 weeks after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament and also damaging his medical collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments during Game 6 of the NBA Finals. He is expected to miss about 6 months.

Even with the signing of O'Neal the Celtics are going to be hurting without this guy on the court. He is a fantastic defensive center, and adds toughness to a team that is going to really need it (especially if Wallace retires). Still, Boston showed last year that the regular season doesn't matter, so as long as he can get himself going before the playoffs, and this injury does linger they should be fine.

Celtics Updates

Lots of news going on with the Celtics. Ainge came out and talked about the Paul Pierce, and Perkins shed some light on when he might be able to return.

Ainge on Pierce:

"We were negotiating an extension in good faith," Ainge told the Boston Herald. "He's worked hard to become a free agent, but I still think that in his heart of hearts he still wants to stay in Boston. It's all a negotiation. Risk is involved in all of these things, but I'm telling him that we would like him to come back and make another run at a title."

Ainge is confident the team will remain competitive if Pierce signs with another club.

"There's too many other things that factor in right now," he said. "Who else can we get? But it's not all dependent on getting Paul back. I don't think it all rests on his shoulders."

So what will it take to get Paul back? I think he will obviously take less money, but more years. My thinking is that it'll be a 3 year deal, and to get the deal done they might give him a full no trade clause. That would be a huge sign of faith, since Kobe Bryant is the only other player in the NBA that has that.


Perkins:

Kendrick Perkins will undergo major reconstructive surgery to repair tears to the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Perkins is aware he has a long road back.

"They told me to expect late December or early January," Perkins told the Boston Herald. "I don't know what is expected from something like this, but I'm just going to go with the plan and see what I have to do.

"But after I took the MRI and found out that it was an ACL I was surprised -- I have to admit that. So I just have to go with things."

Celtics are going to need a lot of help up front, since Perkins won't be back until some time in 2011. You add that to the fact that Sheed is retiring, you could see a much different looking Celtics team next year. Rumors have surfaced the Celtics will make a run at Miller, but I would be a lot happier with someone like Haywood, though he could prove too expensive.

Perk Rumors

A league front-office source told FanHouse that the Celtics have been dangling center Kendrick Perkins and their No. 19 pick to teams with high lottery picks in attempt to add a dynamic young talent to their aging core. It's a tough sell, considering Perkins is facing surgery as early as Friday after tearing his medial collateral ligament and partially tearing his posterior cruciate ligament in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Perkins has an expiring contract that will pay him $4.4 million next season, and the best case scenario for the Celtics would be to move their big man and the pick to a team with the salary cap space to absorb both and free up money for Ainge's strapped payroll. NBA Fanhouse

Perk may be my third favorite Celtic in my lifetime behind Rondo and Pierce, however, if there was an opportunity to get Demarcus Cousins or Evan Turner you have to think about it. Philly probably would do it, figuring they have no inside physical presence even after acquiring Spencer Hawes. But are teams willing to look past his knee injury? I think so. As of right now Perk is the 2nd best defensive center in the league, he has played Dwight Howard well and even Poopface well. But as the Celtics get older, and as we saw in the finals, they need offense from somewhere and getting a talent like Cousins or Turner could give them instant offense. The sure things in this draft are John Wall, Evan Turner and Demarcus Cousins, so if they ended up with any of them I'd be ecstatic.

Perkins Out

Kendrick Perkins is now out for game 7 because he tore his MCL and PCL. This sucks for the Celtics because Perk was able to limit the Lakers from getting into the paint. This probably means that Perk is likely going to miss some time in the start of the season. But also could benefit the Celtics also because it probably means we can sign him for less money than he'd be worth if he was healthy and after next year.

Now it looks as if Sheed or Big Baby will be starting and Scal will be dressed. Honestly, the way Candace Parkers husband has been playing Scal may be a better option than him. I really haven't seen such an awful player in my life. Patrick O'Bryant and Mikki Moore were better options than Shelden.

Anyways this sucks, but no excuses we still have the depth to take it.
This is a cool Perk Quote:
"It's hard because, last night, my teammates, the whole Celtics organization was great in supporting me," Perkins said. "But it's hard because you got a lot of people asking me, 'How you feeling?' and saying, 'Get better,' things like that. At the same time, it's not about me. We're trying to win a championship. It's not about me. And I don't want the focus to be on me -- for my teammates.

"I don't want nobody feeling sorry for anything like that. We got a game to win. I want them to stay focused. I'm going to be all right. It's an important game. I appreciate my teammates and coaches that they're concerned. But it's not about me. It's about winning a title."

NBA Rescinds 1 Technical From Perkins

The NBA has rescinded one technical assessed to Kendrick Perkins and he will play in Friday's Game 6. This is great news, but they really should've rescinded both. Now if Perkins get 1 more technical foul he will be suspended for a game. He is really going to need to watch his temper, and hopefully it doesn't affect his defense.

Still, with Wallace and Big Baby hurting the Celtics could not lose Perkins. I feel a lot better about game 6 with Perkins out there against Howard.

But seriously the NBA has to sit down after this year and talk about it's rules. It is just fucking silly. I don't even understand what is and isn't a foul anymore, and they need to stop handing out technicals like they are going out of style. A game should be decided by the players not the refs. It is getting to the point where it is tough to watch.

Anyways, at least that is some good news today.


***UPDATE***

the NBA also upgraded Paul Pierce's foul on J.J. Redick in the fourth quarter was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 after Pierce shoved Redick chasing a loose ball.

Magic 113 Celtics 92

Wow. It is really tough to even write about this game. This series could simply be over if NBA referees weren't the worst officiating in all of sports. Last night, the refs were throwing technicals around like they were going out of style. Perkins got his first when he tried to help Paul Pierce off the court, his hand slipped, and inadvertently hit Howard. Then he gets his 2nd when he didn't like a call, but was walking away from the ref. That got him kicked out, so the Celtics had to play the entire 2nd half without their starting center.

Things only got worse. Big Baby was knocked out of the game when Howard (not on purpose) and gave him a concussion. Then Daniels went down with a concussion (still have no idea how he got hurt). It was just one of those games, the problem is that Magic are back in this series.

I don't want to take too much away from the Magic, but the Celtics were able to hang around until the last 10 mins of the game even with everything that had gone wrong. Howard had a big game with 21 point, 10 boards, but it was the 5 blocks that really set the tone in the game.

Anyways, I still think the Celtics can close this out. They have to come out pissed next game, and I would really like to see more from Garnett (looked old last night).

We will have updates on Big Baby, Daniels, and whether or not Perkins is going to be suspended hopefully later in the day...

Celtics Updates (UPDATED)

Celtics forward Kevin Garnett (foot) and center Kendrick Perkins (knee) both sat out Boston's practice session Wednesday at the Sports Authority Training Center at HealthPoint with injuries, but both are expected to play in Friday night's Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Luckily in the NBA you have 90 days in between games and so you can afford to have a player or players sit out a day. Doc said that if there was a game yesterday KG wouldn't play, but come playoff time it's hard to gauge if people are telling the truth or not. If these injuries are significant we will obviously lose, however, I believe they will be fine and be ready to go Friday.

***UPDATE***

Kevin Garnett practiced Thursday with the Celtics, a stunning development considering coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday that he would be out. But his mid-foot strain is mending and he convinced Rivers to practice.

"He said he didn't feel a lot of pain," Rivers said. "Kevin was a surprise. I really didn't want him to go much today. But he was moving so well, I just let him go."

Celtics 87 Lakers 86

Last time these two teams played Ray Allen missed a potential game winning shot. This time he was able to make up for it with his defense. Allen's key defensive stop on Fisher secured a 87-86 victory. He also scored 12 of his 24 points in the 3rd quarter and made 10 of his first 11 shots, helping send their hated rivals to their first loss in 5 games since Kobe Bryant went down with a sprained left ankle.

It was a nice win for the Celtics. They played great defense, and even though the Lakers seemed to be getting all the calls (going to the free throw line 12 more times then the Celtics) they stayed strong. Once again Boston lost in rebound, which has to be a concern, and obviously if Kobe was playing the Celtics would have lost.

Perkins had another very solid game with 13 point and 14 rebounds, but the bench was nowhere to be found. The Celtic's bench was outscored 12-24. I can chalk some of that up to the fact they had to play without House, but still you should be expecting more from guys like Sheed, T. Allen, Daniels (who didn't even have 1 point).

The hope is Robinson can be that scoring weapon off the bench, and it looks to be coming not a moment too soon.