Every morning, we compile the links of
the day and dump them here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as
satisfying as a good morning dump.
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.
For the sake of discussion, let's make some wild assumptions: 1 – The Celtics, a team in need of height, are willing to deal height 2 – A team is willing to overlook Perk's injury.
What are the likely destinations? Washington is taking John Wall. Philly just traded for Spencer Hawes, and they'd probably want more than Perk and the 19th pick to pass on Evan Turner. New Jersey and Minnesota do not need centers. Sacramento just traded for Sam Dalembert. Golden State is an offensive minded team with zero interest in a lumbering, offensively challenged center.
That leaves the Pistons at #7 (I can't imagine the Celtics going further down the line under this trade scenario). They don't have a true center (Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown are free agents). Perk is a Joe Dumars type of guy. A deal to Detroit makes sense for the Pistons, but I'm still not buying it for the Celtics.
The rest of the links:
Globe – Celtics might be draft day movers | Don't make this a project | Herald – Celtics plans fluid | Wanted: Pick and Roll | CSNNE – Sherrod Blakely's mock draft | WEEI – Ainge on Big Show | ESPN Boston – Source: Cs eye another title run | Ainge says Rivers should wait |Yahoo! – Paul untouchable? Owner signals otherwise |
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