If Danny was intent on trading Perk, he should have waited until the off-season. Not only did the trade kill any chance we had at a title, but it's likely that we could have gotten somebody better than Green had we waited and moved Perk for a trade exception. For instance, David West would have been a possibility, and he would have positioned the team better over the last two seasons.
I appreciate the view that Jeff Green is a star and has "ridiculous upside", but I'm not sure that it's accurate.
Hindsight.
No way Ainge gets the return he got at the time in the summer. He would have had no leverage because everyone would know he wasn't committed to Perk.
Very unlikely we dump Robinson's contract. No way we get the Clipper's pick which at the time was the gem of the trade. It looked like a potential lottery pick. Can't foresee "basketball reasons" sending CP3 to the Clippers.
At the time we had two O'Neals along with Krstic (he thought they would be able to give about 30-35 minutes between them with KG and Baby taking the rest) and no backup wing. We were expecting Pierce to go through Melo, Lebron, and then potentially be defended by Artest all by himself?
It had the potential to be a great trade all things considered. Why would he think a hobbled Perk on two bad knees would be better then Krstic and Green?