Danny clearly made a calculated decision . Perk is coming off of major knee surgery where he tore all three ligaments. He came back before the original march schedule early because this is a contract year and he wanted to prove that he was healthy again so he could earn a nice big contract. Within 3 weeks of his return he hurt his other MCL on his healthy knee( now he is out for another 3 weeks ) . That is not a good thing for a big man( I know it is only a sprain, but if he is feeling any pain he will try to take pressure off and not move naturally, putting him at risk for an even worse injury).
Perk has had a lot of injuries the past few seasons that he has played through, but bad knee and big men don't go good together. When you consider the fact that he does only a few things ( granted they are elite)low post defense and an intimidation factor , that is not worth what Perk will be demanding in the off-season(probably in the 8-10 mil range). It is not smart to invest that money in a big man who's game doesn't match well at all without 3 other hall of famers providing offense.
A lot of people are sleeping on Shaq. Did you really expect him to play 60+ games? We all knew that when he came here , he would get a big chunk of games off in the middle of the season to save his body. We also saw how the starting lineup played when Shaq was with them. They were virtually unstoppable and were the most or one of the most efficient offenses of all time through the first 30 games. Shaq is still a HUGE man and no one dare comes in the lane when he is around , and if they do they will pay for it .
We will have enough big men between KG,BBD,Murphy,Kristic,JO to eat up mins at center ( KG will play center at time with Jeff Green at PF)
Add to the fact that we get a young super athletic/high bb iq wing to finally take Posey's role and a future 1st rd pick, this trade is a no brainer. Jeff Green has a bunch of potential and is a much better fit with Rondo going forward. You are going to love these two on the fast break together .
And not that Danny did this trade for this reason, but we now have a very attractive core of
Rondo
Green
PP
in 2012, the same year Dwight Howard is a free agent , and the C's will have a need for a center. I am not saying it will happen, but at least we have a chance to have it happen now .
Signing Perk wouldn't have been the smart move to make long term when you consider the injuries and the limited skills.