Perk wants to sign long term with Thunder

[BigAlTheFuture]

dang, I miss Perk. Can't believe he's gone.  

I sat in my room and reminisced, today. Still remember his second season when Pierce got ejected in game 6 of the 1st round against the Pacers and they picked Perk to shoot the free throws.

I feel like a dad that sent his daughter away for college.

[misha]

Good for him. That team fits him and he'll be playing in a contender in the years to come. I will still support Perk (besides when he's playing C's of course) and I'm glad that at least he's going to a team I like. They'll be a force in the weakened west.

[garz]

Of course Perk wants to sign with OKC and stay there.  Perk is very loyal.  He was hurt when he was traded but now OKC is his team.  He didn't choose to leave the Celtics, Danny did.  Danny made it obvious that the Celtics no longer want him and won't pay him.  the Thunder welcomed him with open arms and love him already.  Of course they are his first choice this summer.  Like I said, Perk's a loyal guy and the team he is on is his first choice. 

I love Perk, but I don't understand how you can say that. I think Evil Ted on Basketbawful put it really well. He said:

he was offered the maximum-possible contract extension from his beloved Celtics while he was rehabbing from a catastrophic knee injury, and refused it. That tells me that despite being given a vote of confidence during a vulnerable time, he's a player who, like most, puts business ahead of emotion. So when I hear now, through his appointed spokesman Nate Robinson, that he's really broken up about leaving, it rings hollow, and if he really felt that way, he should have taken the max extension when it was offered to him. If you, [insert player name here], put your own [well-being / financial situation / future] ahead of all else, don't be upset or surprised when your team's management acts in its own best interests as well.

I don't think you can put this on Danny and the Celtics because they did offer him a contract which I think was reasonable for his actual value.

[droponov]

I didn't think the Celtics offer was a reasonable reflection of Perk's value. $6 millions per season... he'll end up getting offers 40% to 70% higher. It was just the most the Celtics could offer under the rules. 

I agree Perkins loyalties are first and foremost with his family though and rightly so. He may put a small premium on location and the competitiveness of the team, but he'll end up signing with whomever makes the best contract offer. It's going to be the Thunder, they didn't trade for him with the goal of getting a rental.

I wonder if they're going to agree to an extension tomorrow or not. If I were Perkins I'd try to work it out.

[GreenEnvy]

He better sign the extension with the possibility of a hard cap coming, which would take him out of a big payday from just about every contender.

[More Banners]

I didn't think the Celtics offer was a reasonable reflection of Perk's value. $6 millions per season... he'll end up getting offers 40% to 70% higher. It was just the most the Celtics could offer under the rules. 

I agree Perkins loyalties are first and foremost with his family though and rightly so. He may put a small premium on location and the competitiveness of the team, but he'll end up signing with whomever makes the best contract offer. It's going to be the Thunder, they didn't trade for him with the goal of getting a rental.

I wonder if they're going to agree to an extension tomorrow or not. If I were Perkins I'd try to work it out.

What exactly is the value of a specialist/role player with a lengthy history of injury?

While other centers with similar skills have gotten paid, it doesn't seem like it was a good idea for their respective teams in any of the cases.  None.

Danny = wisdom.

[incoherent]

Danny knew this was the one place Perkins really wanted to go.  We did him a favor and sent him there early.

But Perkins even said that in the past, he had talked to his agent about the possibility of signing with Oklahoma City once he became a free agent, noting that “God works in mysterious ways.”

“I knew my contract was coming to an end, so I asked him, ‘Do you think they would be interested?’ because I knew I could come in and help.”

[droponov]

I didn't think the Celtics offer was a reasonable reflection of Perk's value. $6 millions per season... he'll end up getting offers 40% to 70% higher. It was just the most the Celtics could offer under the rules. 

I agree Perkins loyalties are first and foremost with his family though and rightly so. He may put a small premium on location and the competitiveness of the team, but he'll end up signing with whomever makes the best contract offer. It's going to be the Thunder, they didn't trade for him with the goal of getting a rental.

I wonder if they're going to agree to an extension tomorrow or not. If I were Perkins I'd try to work it out.

What exactly is the value of a specialist/role player with a lengthy history of injury?

While other centers with similar skills have gotten paid, it doesn't seem like it was a good idea for their respective teams in any of the cases.  None.

Danny = wisdom.

I suspect the only reason why Danny didn't make a better extension offer to Perkins was because the rules prevented him from doing it, not because he didn't want it. And that the triggering factor to trade him was the absence of a wing backup, not worries about Perkins next salary - it'd always be Ainge's option to keep him or not.

Who are the centers you're thinking about? I think Perkins' value is around $34 millions/4 years.

[More Banners]

I didn't think the Celtics offer was a reasonable reflection of Perk's value. $6 millions per season... he'll end up getting offers 40% to 70% higher. It was just the most the Celtics could offer under the rules. 

I agree Perkins loyalties are first and foremost with his family though and rightly so. He may put a small premium on location and the competitiveness of the team, but he'll end up signing with whomever makes the best contract offer. It's going to be the Thunder, they didn't trade for him with the goal of getting a rental.

I wonder if they're going to agree to an extension tomorrow or not. If I were Perkins I'd try to work it out.

What exactly is the value of a specialist/role player with a lengthy history of injury?

While other centers with similar skills have gotten paid, it doesn't seem like it was a good idea for their respective teams in any of the cases.  None.

Danny = wisdom.

I suspect the only reason why Danny didn't make a better extension offer to Perkins was because the rules prevented him from doing it, not because he didn't want it. And that the triggering factor to trade him was the absence of a wing backup, not worries about Perkins next salary - it'd always be Ainge's option to keep him or not.

Who are the centers you're thinking about? I think Perkins' value is around $34 millions/4 years.

Dalembert comes to mind, but truly there aren't many "defensive centers" out there that are so abysmal offensively. 

Sure, T.Chandler and M.Camby are defensive centers with injury concerns that make bank, but they're much better finishers offensively. 

Let's also keep in mind that Blount got market value, which was a bad idea. 

Diop is a defensive center that got the MLE, and who wants to pay him now?  Nazr Mohammed?

Is Biedrins worth committing $9 million/year?

Okafor.

None of these guys are players that a team starts with.  If a team thinks they're close, they overpay for these sort of guys, but it rarely works out unless they have some ability on offense.

It's not like Perk racks up the double-doubles or anything.  Or has ever averaged over 30 minutes/game for a season.  Or can run the floor with Rondo...

You're probably right that Danny would have gone higher, but he was offered more than the Birdman, a rebounder/shot blocker, and some other guys, too.  It was time to move on, really, and this was just the way it worked out.  All concerned will probably be better off, asn OKC has locked up their scoring core, and Perk was the piece they needed.  We're in a different place.

[Q_FBE]

Basketball business can be very sordid at times. It sounds like we were trying to get value for Perkins going into an unrestricted free agency which is greatly complicated by a new CBA which reportedly the owners will look for wage concessions and the player union will fight them tooth and nail and potentially lose a season over. The Celtics had to win the NBA title last year and certainly must win it this year.

Trading Kendrick Perkins was a tough emotional decision as you are changing the winning DNA in midseason with the idea of getting even better right away and better for the future. I see what Danny Ainge was doing here but if the Celtics get knocked out by Dwight Howard or Joakim Noah/Boozer/Taj Gibson this spring, I will be declaring this trade a FAILURE. If we lose to OKC in the finals, then we know Kevin Durant is a great player and we got screwed in the 2007 lottery. If we lose to the Lakers or the Heat, blame David Stern and his mamby-pamby rule enforcement committee and World Wide Wes - The System continues to screw us. Lastly if we lose to San Antonio - blame it on the 1997 lottery and the curse of Rick Pitino. If we lose to Dallas, shake Mark Cuban's hand and say, Well Done Sir!!!!