1) What did the Celtics get in return for Perkins?
A healthy center, a healthy wing backup for Pierce, and a 1st-round pick from a crummy team. Expecting Ainge to be Nostradamus is ludicrous. Losing Krstic overseas to the lockout, Green to a heart condition that wasn't obvious during the trade physical, and the Clippers going on a tear after a blockbuster trade for CP3... could not have been predicted.
2) Obviously the Celtics needed to make a move last season, moving your starting center for a guy who's skill and talent are questionable at best and with a heart condition does not seem like the best option. There were plenty of players to be attained that could of been added to the roster without moving one of the the Celtics starters.
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. The heart condition is untouchable for reasons mentioned prior, and there's no guarantee of the availability or quality of other players.
3) The Celtics were the BEST team, with the Best record in the NBA. They had just beat the Lakers on a win streak when Perkins was traded. Perkins gave the Celtics the edge bc of his size, toughness and defense against both Miami and Chicago. NBA analysis do not dispute these facts. How you can simply ignore these simple facts hurts your argument. Not only were the Celtics on another run to get back to the playoffs, the trade destroyed any team chemistry or team unity to get back and win again.
At the time of the trade, the Celtics had seven people who couldn't even play basketball.
We swept the Knicks in the playoffs, and unless you think that Perkins is going to stop back-to-back miracle 3-pointers from LBJ the 30% career deep shooter, or prevent Rondo's freak injury against Wade, or Krstic's poorly-timed bone bruise injury at the end of the regular season, or keep BBD from chucking long 2's... what is Perkins doing in the 2nd round? We lost largely because of our offense, and if someone is going to suggest that Perk could have done anything about that, I might just die laughing.
Even though the C's lost the series 4-1, two losses came with a broken Rondo, one in OT and one after the Heat go on a 12-0 run that put them up by 10. And let's not forget Game 1, where James Jones gets as hot as the noonday sun and buries us in three-pointers and FT's for 25 points.
Your argument simply avoids or ignores what went on so that you can argue that Perkins is not a good enough player to justify keeping him and paying him, but fails to consider what the Celtics received in return or the effect losing an important part of a Championship team has on the chemistry whether on the floor or in the locker room.
I don't care how good Perkins is. If he goes D-Howard on the entire NBA, it was still the right trade, because trades are about the moment and not about time machines and perfect future knowledge.
I believe both issues, Jeff Green as compensation and the overall effects still felt in the Celtic's locker room, ruins any credible argument for the trade.
Rondo's funk is long over. He blasted out of the gate at the speed of sound this season, sidelined only because of his injury.