Danny Ainge gets a little emotional talking about 2011 Kendrick Perkins trade

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/danny-ainge-gets-little-emotional-160649031.html


Danny Ainge gets a little emotional talking about 2011 Kendrick Perkins trade


Nick Goss
Sat, March 27, 2021, 9:06 AM


One of the most controversial trades that Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has made during his long tenure with the franchise was sending Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a 2012 first-round pick during the 2010-11 season.

Perkins was a popular player and filled his role well as a solid rebounder and quality interior defender. He also was well-liked by his teammates and started at center for much of his career in Boston, including the team's 2008 NBA championship season.

The trade ultimately didn't work out for Boston. They were unable to return to the NBA Finals after trading Perkins, despite coming close during the 2011-12 season when they lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to LeBron James' Miami Heat.

Ainge joined "Celtics Pregame Live" before Friday night's win over the Milwaukee Bucks and got a little emotional discussing the Perkins trade and how tough of a decision it was to make that move.

"Perk was like a child I raised. He was so fun and we had a close bond," Ainge explained. "It was one of the most difficult trades I ever made in my career. That was very hard."

Perkins also was included in this segment and responded to Ainge's comments by explaining how close he was to the C's exec during his time in Boston and how that special relationship helped him beyond basketball.

Check out Perkins' remarks in the video below:

https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics/status/1375581993996541954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1375581993996541954%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Fsports%2Fdanny-ainge-gets-little-emotional-160649031.html


Bob
MY NOTE:  Time to make Cowens start bawling like a baby. LOL.

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I saw that interview, and he was very emotional, it has been the biggest thorn in his side as GM, knowing that, l. he should have kept Perk, 2. They have never gotten a center like Perk since that trade. Many make shift replacements, but no Perk.

In that interview, when talking about Theis, he admitted that his upcoming contract had something to do with trading him. Then spoke highly of Theis and in a trailing voice said "this is the NBA, who knows" I wondered at the time if he meant that at some point he would resign him if the timing and team status were right. Could just be me reading into it but he did speak highly of Theis.

There have been other players that Danny has parted ways with that he had personal relationships with. Avery Bradley for one, IT, and of course Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Danny has shown over and over that he puts the welfare of the Celtics above his personal feelings. Glad it is him and not me. I get attached to players and it drives me nuts when they are either traded or leave. This is one tough job

Rosalie

I too saw the interview.

He also said that he made the current trades because he felt like the team needed something to uplift them (I am interpreting what I think he meant) It is a tough job to evaluate the personal impact on a team when a guy is traded or leaves.

With very limited options Danny has improved the team, managed to stay below the tax line this year and retained enough assets to improve the team even more during the off season.

Now it is up to the coach and the players to push forward and get back into the fight.

I’ll say it again, Perk was as essential as any player on that team in what that teams identity was. He made life easier for KG the exact same way Silas did it on the floor for Dave Cowens. Him fondly battling the biggest mofo on the opposing front line without help enabled KG to roam like a pterodactyl all over the floor. That was a historic defense in that era and shame that team never got to multiple titles. Danny should have kept Perk and let the negotiations play out that summer, what a boneheaded move, the worst in Celtic history.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I’ll say it again, Perk was as essential as any player on that team in what that teams identity was. He made life easier for KG the exact same way Silas did it on the floor for Dave Cowens. Him fondly battling the biggest mofo on the opposing front line without help enabled KG to roam like a pterodactyl all over the floor. That was a historic defense in that era and shame that team never got to multiple titles. Danny should have kept Perk and let the negotiations play out that summer, what a boneheaded move, the worst in Celtic history.

No, the worst move in Celtics' history was hiring Rick Pitino.

Yes. Pitino was a disaster.

I remember thinking that trade was a brilliant way to get to the finals.

The strategy in the East centered on getting past LeBron and Paul Pierce alone was great but not enough. The team was also losing games because of a lack of offensive production in the paint. A small-forward combo of Pierce and Green would be incredible; LeBron and other strong two-way forwards would never catch a break. Krstic would supply the offense needed from the center position, even if some defense was being sacrificed.

So Green goes out for heart surgery and Krstic leaves the NBA and goes overseas.

That one blew up quick.

It was the first of a number of moves that might have worked, but got trashed by injuries and early defections. And they call that leprechaun Lucky? Hopefully he's feeling the magic again.

It is funny, for all the good luck the Celtics had over the years, it appears that the basketball Gods, at some point, felt it was time for a struggle was due for this team. Little did they realize that one of those struggles would be so heart wrenching and sad. When the Celtics traded back for Green, KG said he was the next superstar for the Celtics. Little did we know what was to come. It is not like Ainge made terrible trades/deals, injury after injury kept messing with "the plan" IT, Hayward, (over and over) But I guess that is basketball

gyso wrote:NYCelt,

There was more moving parts to it than just "Krstic leaves the NBA and goes overseas".  He had an expiring contract and was a free agent that summer (possibly a restricted one, I don't remember that part, not that it matters).  The CBA had expired and there was a lockout, followed by the 50 game season.

Krstic was left without a NBA contract.  The future of the next NBA season was uncertain, so he decided to sign with a team overseas.

So it wasn't so much a defection as it was another case of pure bad luck and crappy timing.  Lucky indeed!!

Yeah, as I recall he was able to secure a good payday.

I don't remember though, couldn't he have extended with Boston as an existing contract despite or prior to the lockout?

There were no contracts. The lockout attested to that imho.