Where do I start? I'm writing a paper for school with my TV on mute when a buddy of mine tells me to check out ESPN2. I expected to change the station and see a mediocre trade that stengthened the C's with a back-up to Pierce but what do I get? We traded PERK away? What is that Danny?
The Celtic's gave the OKC Thunder Perk and Nate for a talented Jeff Green (who we originally drafted but gave away in the Ray trade) and Nenad Krstic.
Most people say when you are recieving the most talented player in the trade (J.Green) you are always the winner. In this case, it doesn't work that way. Perk was our starting center who knew our system and did exactly what we asked him to do, stop Dwight Howard and any other big man that was too much of a physical presence for KG to guard. With Shaq and Jermaine still injured we now have Nenad Krstic manning the paint with his god awful rebounding and shot-blocking numbers. He is averaging 4 rebounds a game, pretty damn low for a 7 footer.
Ontop of shipping of Perk and Nate, Ainge sent the rest of our healthy big men to Cleveland for a 2nd Rd. pick and the Clippers 2012 1st Rd. pick which most likely will turn into a top 10 pick.
Also Marquis was sent to Sacramento for cash and a 2017 draft pick. 2017? How is that legal to trade picks so far in advance? When I saw that I thought it would be smart if GM's could only trade picks that are within the years on that GM's current contract because if a GM's contract is up and they aren't re-hired, the new GM faces the fact that draft picks down the road are gone and they had no control.
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Last night the Celtics played the new look Nuggets, basically the Knicks, with an extremely undermanned roster. They went into the game with only 8 players on the roster and only two of which were over 6'7 (KG and Baby). They signed D-Leaguer Chris Johnson, 6'11, who played at LSU. "CJ" as Doc already dubbed his nickname, played pretty well for a guy who was supposed to play in a D-League game last night. I didn't expect much from the C's last night and the lack of depth showed down the stretch when the Nuggets took what was a close game and turned it into a 14-point win.
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Looking at all the trades as a whole, I'm trying to have a positive outlook. Jeff Green is an athletic 6'9 guy who is very long. He can spread the court for Rondo and shoot the three. He also can defend some 4's in the league so Doc can play him with the big 4 at the end of the games like he did in our title year with Posey. I'm not a fan of getting Nenad Krstic one bit, I would have rather gotten Serge Ibaka grabbing dolls off the rim but in some ways he could help. He spreads the floor like Green does and gives us something Perk didnt, a true offensive game. Krstic is kind of like a big Z who can step back and hit shots. We just need to brain-wash him into our system and get him to play defense. I like getting rid of Nate and his contract. Luke never really showed much so it's not hard to see him go. We wish the best to Marquis in getting healthy and playing again in Sacremento but the loss of Semih at this point kind of stings when we have no healthy bigs (Krstic will play saturday).
C's have been rumored to be looking to buy-out Troy Murphy, Jason Kapono, Morris Peterson and a few other players to anchor their bench.
Yes, we lost Perk. A guy who has played all his years in Boston and is loved by the city but we got a really good basketball player in return. It is time to move on and wish Perk the best.
