Expert: Fabio Anderle - 9/26/2011

Question
Do u think it was smart for the celtics to trade Perkins and robinson for Kristic and Green? Did they gain anything long term and short term. My guess is no because they lost to miami in 5  and they normally outplay the team Lebron James is on.

Answer
Edwin,

You know what they say, “hindsight is 10/10”. But to correctly evaluate, we should put ourselves in Ainge’s “hot seat” and analyze the situation when the trade was pulled.

First, on February the 6th the Celtics had lost Marquis Daniels for the season, and without him the bench was thinner and there wasn’t a backup forward to provide support to Paul Pierce.

Second, Kendrick Perkins had refused the first offer for a contract renewal (reportedly $ 22 million for four years, while the player was seeking a deal worth $ 8 million more over that same span), and in the summer he was going to test the free agents market.

Third, Ainge and Rivers had probably already seen some signs of wear and tear in Pierce and Garnett, and they did not want their stars out of gas when playoffs time comes. Last but not least, the medical staff of the Celtics was sure that Shaquille O’Neal would have been back in time for the post-season, and that would have crowded the center position with Shaquille O’Neal, Perkins, Jermaine O’Neal and Erden.

So, considering that the Celtics would have probably lost Perkins to free agency in the summer anyway without receiving anything in return (he signed a four years contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder for $ 34.8 million), Ainge pulled the trade.

In my opinion at that point the Celtics had to do something, and the 10 won – 11 lost record of the last 21 games of regular season proves that too. Ainge rolled the dices and lost: was it due to the Green acquisition? I don’t think so: Boston lost to Miami because Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t back, because Garnett could not dominate, because Pierce was tired, because Davis flunked, and most of all because Rondo got injured. But not because the Heat destroyed the Celtics under the hoop.

Ainge detected some problems and tried to address them in the most proper way, but sometimes doing things right is not enough.


Fabio