And with that, the Boston Celtics have conceded the NBA title this season. No, I’m not talking about the fact that they traded Luke Harangody away, rather it is the puzzling deal that sent Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. Teams in the title hunt generally don’t ship out key contributors at the trade deadline, but that is exactly what Danny Ainge has done. Perkins has the defensive lynchpin for the team, he did the dirty work and kept a permanent snarl on his face. Every championship team needs a guy like him on their squad, and his teammates knew it – they loved him. In fact, him missing the end of last year’s Finals due to injury is the excuse that the C’s used for losing to the Lakers. Now they replace him at center with Nenad Krstic?!
Apparently the Celtics had concerns that they weren’t going to be able to re-sign Perkins this offseason, but aren’t they interested in making a title run this year? It’s well and good dumping an impending free agent at the deadline if you aren’t a contender, but when you’re in the Celtics position you’re supposed to go for broke – you’re not supposed to cut bait. Sure, Jeff Green is a talented young player, but where does he fit in on this team? He’s not starting at power forward over Kevin Garnett, nor at small forward over Paul Pierce. But the most glaring issue now is the team’s lack of size – the team’s center rotation is Krstic, Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal. Yikes. They have no shot at beating the Lakers if they make it to the Finals now, and they’ve also decreased their chances of even making it out of the East. Danny Ainge has got some splaining to do, not only to Boston fans but also to his (reportedly) angry veteran players.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
