Kendrick Perkins Struggling (Danny should say "I told you so")

[GranTur]

Despite losing a ton of fat over the offseason, Kendrick Perkins is having one of his worst seasons as a pro:
http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/2018/kendrick-perkins

Perkins is making ~$8 million a year. Danny offered Perkins an extension and Perk said no. There are many fans in OKC that are calling Perkins to be amnestied, believe it or not.

What is the Celtics biggest hole right now? SF depth. What did we trade Perkins for? JEFF GREEN

I think Danny is a genius for how he handled the Perkins trade. Not to mention he got a first-round pick out of this trade. Genius. Perkins was injured and he pulled off an excellent trade to address our SF depth after we lost Marquis.

I just want people to put this Perkins' thing to rest. He's never even physically recovered. Losing Rondo was our problem last year in the playoffs. Not Perkins.

JO has proven to be an elite post defender and charge-taker. He has been solid in the paint and working great with KG and Wilcox to take care of the center position.

Our defense has proven to still be championship quality. Since KG's injury in 2009, the Celtics' biggest problem has been OFFENSE.

[Interceptor]

Perk will be fine, Presti knew what he was getting. Much of what Perk does doesn't really show up in the numbers (setting good screens, scaring the bejesus out of people, etc). Doc said as much, and I agree with him. I would not be surprised if Perk's numbers got a little better as he becomes more comfortable with the OKC system, and gets further away from his injury. Trade was still a good idea, though.

Meanwhile, Perk is hitting 40/52 FTs this year, for 76.9%. That's actually pretty good, he's way above league average for Centers, amongst the top ten for people who play a decent amount of MPG.

Take that, Rondo.

[guava_wrench]

While I have always been sympathetic to players whose impact is not fully captured by stats, I find it hard to ignore how bad his stats are. Was his high shooting percentage here fully an artifact of the system, a percentage he is unlikely to get anywhere else? He did shoot well in 05-06, 2 years before the Big Three.

At some point it becomes hard to dismiss that statistical case that he is not the player he once was, whatever that is.

[GranTur]

He had one of the highest turnover ratios on screens in the NBA with the Celtics.

[OttawaCeltic]

What is the Celtics biggest hole right now? SF depth. What did we trade Perkins for? JEFF GREEN

Wait a minute, what happened to our weakness for our bigs at the center area?

PG Rondo/Dooling/Bradley
SG Allen/Moore/Pavlovic
SF Pierce/Pietrus/Quis
PF Garnett/Bass/Wilcox/Johnson
C  O'Neal/Stiemsma

I'll take the depth at SF than the depth at the C...

P.S. Garnett and Bass can't really play at the 5 position.

[Celtics4ever]

Saying I told you so isn't cool.   I thought he was vastly over rated here by many fans but I would like to see him do well as long as he is not playing us.

[GranTur]

Our back-up perimeter players (3 positions) are Pietrus and Bradley. Our back-up bigs (2 positions) are Bass and Wilcox. Pietrus is solid, but Marquis and Sasha are bigger question marks than Wilcox as your fourth big.

I love Perkins. I just wish Danny didn't get as much flack for a great trade. I want to see Perkins succeed. Believe me.

[jambr380]

Perk's biggest strength has always been and always will be his intimidation in the middle on a top NBA team. I know that only goes so far with people, but it has worked for him throughout his career. Playing on OKC, he should continue to give that team toughness. While his contract is a bit much, it's worth it if they can win a championship.

With all of that said, I still agree with the trade (at the time it was made). Green, Krstic, and [what was supposed to be] a decent first round pick was a steal at the time. It's not Danny's fault that it all kind of fell apart...sorry to rehash opinions of this thing.

[EDWARDO]

Meanwhile, Perk is hitting 40/52 FTs this year, for 76.9%. That's actually pretty good, he's way above league average for Centers, amongst the top ten for people who play a decent amount of MPG.

I had not realized that. Completes changes my mind. Dumbest trade ever.

[GranTur]

Perk will be fine, Presti knew what he was getting. Much of what Perk does doesn't really show up in the numbers (setting good screens, scaring the bejesus out of people, etc). Doc said as much, and I agree with him. I would not be surprised if Perk's numbers got a little better as he becomes more comfortable with the OKC system, and gets further away from his injury. Trade was still a good idea, though.

Meanwhile, Perk is hitting 40/52 FTs this year, for 76.9%. That's actually pretty good, he's way above league average for Centers, amongst the top ten for people who play a decent amount of MPG.

Take that, Rondo.

While it's excellent that he's been shooting free throws well over his first 52 FTs this year, this is only a .5 PPG difference with the frequency at which he shoots free throws. Still a nice thing though! Much love to Perk. I hope his knees can make a turnaround and his shoulder problems are fixed.

[Interceptor]

While I have always been sympathetic to players whose impact is not fully captured by stats, I find it hard to ignore how bad his stats are. Was his high shooting percentage here fully an artifact of the system, a percentage he is unlikely to get anywhere else? He did shoot well in 05-06, 2 years before the Big Three.

At some point it becomes hard to dismiss that statistical case that he is not the player he once was, whatever that is.

I'm not sure that Westbrook is able to get Perk the looks that Rondo could. He's too busy taking 18 shots a game. I'll give some credit to the system change.

But if you don't like Perk's personal stats, just look at what happened to OKC's DRtg from 2010-11 to 2011-12 (spoilers, goes from 107.2 points allowed per hundred possessions to 102.9). It's not like the team has made any huge moves in their roster besides The Trade<tm>.

Also, I reiterate his FT%. Perk could brick the next 13 free throws and he still wouldn't be as low on the season as his current career average.

P.S. Garnett and Bass can't really play at the 5 position.

Tell that to Dwight Howard.

[Finkelskyhook]

While I have always been sympathetic to players whose impact is not fully captured by stats, I find it hard to ignore how bad his stats are. Was his high shooting percentage here fully an artifact of the system, a percentage he is unlikely to get anywhere else? He did shoot well in 05-06, 2 years before the Big Three.

At some point it becomes hard to dismiss that statistical case that he is not the player he once was, whatever that is.

Yeah....Perk is "struggling" for the team with the NBA's best record.   I think Guava asked two questions in one that make a lot of sense.  Perk was a product of a system that offensively fit him perfect.  OK City doesn't move the ball.  Their PG is a 2 guard.  I doubt they have a play in their repritoire for Perk, Ibaka, or Mohammed...All of which shoot under 50%.  They rarely touch the ball except for bailouts or putbacks in OKC games that I've watched.  Defensively, he looks like the same old Perk.  

 There are many fans in OKC that are calling Perkins to be amnestied, believe it or not.

There are many in this forum that thought (and even crazier yet, may still think) that signing the Jermaine O'Neal signing was a great coup by Danny....That's why we're fans and not GMs.  I'd bet Danny would be the first person on the phone if OKC was crazy enough to amnesty Perk.

[lepoooo]

Perk was overrated because he was playing with KG on defense, it made him look good.

He can't block shots, he barely manages to grab rebounds on D, he sucks on offense. The only thing he does great is one on one D, at least he managed to shut down Howard when he was a Celtic.

The guy is overrated, the contract is not that bad when you look at what centers get these days, but ppl bashing DA for that trade really need to reconsider Perk's weaknesses.

The C's were hurt psychologically after the trade, not on the court.

[Interceptor]

There are many in this forum that thought (and even crazier yet, may still think) that signing the Jermaine O'Neal signing was a great coup by Danny....

JO has been pretty good for us, though. It would have been better if he could stay on the court more, but you absolutely can't blame the 2nd round exit on him last year, for example. He played really well, even with a broken wrist.

[cman88]

fact of the matter is....paying perkins 8million$ long term for the production he is giving OKC would be a bad deal for the celtics..

OKC can afford it because they already have 3 guys who can carry the scoring load..I dont blame ainge for the trade at all.

what you can blame ainge for is maybe the timing of the trade...basically blowing up and creating a brand new bench with a month to go until the playoffs