For the final 10 days of 2011, WEEI.com will count down the top 10 stories of the year in Boston sports. Our next entry in the countdown is No. 4: The Celtics’ trade of Kendrick Perkins.

Check out our previous entries:
No. 10: NBA lockout
No. 9: NFL lockout
No. 8: Celtics’ playoff loss to Heat
No. 7: Patriots’ acquisitions of Albert Haynesworth, Chad Ochocinco
No. 6: Jacoby Ellsbury’s MVP-caliber season
No. 5: Patriots’ playoff loss to Jets

When the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins, they lost a physical presence down low. (AP)

It happened without warning, although the signs were clear enough. With minutes to go before the end of the NBA’s trading deadline on Feb. 24, Celtics team president Danny Ainge sent Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a first-round pick via the Clippers that carries a top-10 protection through the 2016 season.

While it was shocking at the time, the Celtics were concerned about their ability to retain Perkins long-term and the move allowed them to be significantly under the salary cap in the summer of 2012 when the contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen expire. The Celtics had offered Perkins a four-year extension worth $22 million, the most they could have offered under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. With no such restrictions, the Thunder signed him to a four-year deal worth almost $35 million.

In his first interview following the trade, Ainge told WEEI that it was one of the hardest decisions he’s had to make.

“It’s not easy at all,” Ainge said. “We agonized over it. Both Doc [Rivers] and I agonized over it. We went back and forth. There were a few other types of things out there, and it was a very difficult decision to make, yet one that we thought was best for the team and where we’re headed.”

There were also questions about Perkins’ health after the center tore his ACL in Game 6 of the NBA finals against the Lakers and underwent knee surgery in the offseason. Perkins worked hard in his rehab and returned to the court ahead of schedule, but he suffered a setback before the trade deadline and missed almost a month of games before taking the court for Oklahoma City in mid-March. The Celtics were counting on the return of Shaquille O’Neal from an Achilles and calf injury, but he played only 18 minutes the rest of the season.

Without Perkins, the Celtics struggled down the stretch and lost in the second round of the playoffs to Miami. It was a bitter blow for a team that proudly stated it had never lost a playoff series when all five of its starters were healthy.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the final 10 days of 2011, WEEI.com will count down the top 10 stories of the year in Boston sports. Our first entry in the countdown is No. 10: The NBA lockout.

With the NBA lockout finally over, new Celtic Brandon Bass (30) and Rajon Rondo have a shortened season to prepare for. (AP)

After a summer of doubt, NBA commissioner David Stern went from Grinch to Santa when he delivered the gift of a 2011-12 NBA season. Basketball fans worldwide can rejoice on Christmas Day when they get to see their beloved league back in action, even if the season is shortened.

The lockout started July 1, as owners and players disagreed on terms of a new collective bargaining agreement. Primarily, the disagreement centered on who would get the majority of the league’s income. There was more to the CBA than that, of course, but the fact that the owners wanted to recapture more of the income pie left the players up in arms.

Over the course of the summer, negotiations were held between the leagues executives and the NBA players union, led by Billy Hunter, who oversaw the union’s litigation against the league during the 1998 NBA lockout.

With the experienced Hunter at the helm and Lakers guard Derek Fisher in charge of the players, the NBA went into a stalemate all summer. With neither the owners nor players budging on their terms and the season right around the corner, Stern made the move on October to cancel the first two weeks of the season, a blow to revenue for players and owners alike.

Stern went on to cancel the first quarter of the season when the players union made its first major move of the lockout by filing two anti-trust lawsuits against the owners.

On Thanksgiving, the two sides finally broke down and agreed to a new deal. According to Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck, common sense prevailed.

“The general concept was this is regrettable to have this lockout,” he said during Wednesday’s appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show. “If there is a deal, we might as well just go ahead and get to it. If there isn’t, that would be very disappointing.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Gerald Wallace was one of the big-name players on the move Thursday, as he was shipped from the Bobcats to the Trail Blazers. (AP)

Although the Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams trades earlier this week made the biggest NBA headlines, Thursday, the day of the trade deadline, was the busiest day in terms of the number of deals.

The Thursday deal receiving the most attention, especially around here, is the Celtics’ trade of Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

Here at WEEI.com, Paul Flannery writes that the trade was a bold move that Danny Ainge agonized over before deciding to take the gamble. Flannery says the deal could turn out to be brilliant, or it could end up looking reckless.

Out in Oklahoma City, Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman writes that Perkins gives the Thunder some much-needed toughness in the low post and that he should fit in perfectly with what the team is trying to do. Tramel says Green will be missed and other guys will have to step up to replace his scoring, but that the trade ultimately makes the Thunder better.

Also busy on Thursday were the Rockets, who sent Shane Battier and Ish Smith to the Grizzlies for Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll and a first-round pick. Moisekapenda Bower of Fox Sports Houston writes that the Rockets are looking to the future with this deal and waving the white flag for this season. The Memphis Flyer’s Chris Herrington says Battier gives the Grizzlies a defensive boost and some depth while also ridding them of a “colossal bust” in Thabeet.

The Rockets also traded Aaron Brooks to the Suns for Goran Dragic and a first-round pick. Bower says acquiring Dragic and a first-round pick, along with the other first-round pick from the Battier deal, give the Rockets some solid building blocks for the future. In Phoenix, Suns president Lon Babby told Sports 620 KTAR that Brooks makes the team better this season, but that he doesn’t expect him to be Steve Nash‘s heir apparent at point guard.

Meanwhile, the Clippers dealt Baron Davis and a first-round pick to the Cavaliers in exchange for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. Lisa Dillman and Baxter Holmes write in The Los Angeles Times that the move gives the Clippers future salary cap flexibility and officially makes Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon the leaders of the team. Rick Noland of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram says the trade brightens the Cavaliers’ future by giving them an unprotected first-round pick.

Finally, the Bobcats surprised everyone by sending franchise player Gerald Wallace to the Trail Blazers for Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham, Sean Marks and two first-round picks. John Canzano of The Oregonian writes that the deal gives the Trail Blazers something to celebrate and calls it a “slam-dunk trade.” Meanwhile, Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer says the move makes the Bobcats “terrible” and rids them of the only star they’ve ever had simply because they didn’t want to pay him.

It’s a big day in the NBA today!

Jeff Green the Celtic

Day, not just night, and here’s why. Draft Day for the NBA has two of the most exciting things on the NBA calendar (unless you’re into watching games and that kind of stuff): the draft (obviously), and the pre-draft deadline for dealing teams to make their moves. Obviously, the deadline isn’t a big deal, but it’s a real treat to watch David Stern walk up to say the Celtics have drafted Jeff Green when he knows damn well that he’ll be back out there in two minutes to announce that they have traded the forward to Seattle.

It seems like a ridiculous system, having teams select players for other teams and making the poor kid put on the wrong hat for five minutes and get interviewed under the falsest of pretences. Personally, I’m tickled by it. I thought it was cool seeing Randy Foye in a Boston cap, even if it only was for a brief moment.

As for who could be putting on that cap tonight for the Celtics, two draft outlets have them selecting a point guard with the 58th overall pick (apparently they traded their first-rounder for some guy named Garnett).

DraftEmpire.com has the Green taking Gonzaga senior Jeremy Pargo while ESPN has them going with Southern Illinois point guard Bryan Mullins. Pargo might project a little better to the NBA and is a little taller than Mullins, but Celtics fans aren’t getting caught up with who Danny Ainge will take in the second round. Boston is waiting for his next big move.

Obviously Ainge is a guy who is familiar with trades involving top-10 picks. In addition to spinning Foye in ’06 in a deal for Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff, he also turned Green and parts into Ray Allen in ’07.

This time the rumors are different. Rather than trading out, as they did in the past, the Celtics could be looking to swap Rajon Rando for a package that includes a top-10 choice. While earlier rumors had Rondo and Allen going to Phoenix in a deal that would net them Amare Stoudemire, recent speculation has made a bit more sense.

The most commonly-speculated deal of late has been one in which Ainge sends Rondo and Brian Scalabrine to Memphis in exchange for Mike Conley and Rudy Gay. That’s a pretty fantastic deal for the Celtics, but in a perfect world the Celtics would be able to get the second pick in exchange for Gay and select Memphis shooting guard Tyreke Evans. That’ right, there’s a scenario in which Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet doesn’t go second overall, but think of how much that could benefit the Celtics. In Conley they would have a young point guard, and by getting Evans they would have a shooting guard who can learn for a year under Allen before becoming a starter in his sophomore campaign.

The biggest head-scratcher throughout this whole Rondo fiasco is this: if the Celtics are trying to trade Rondo, why is their GM badmouthing him to the media? Isn’t that the opposite of trying to maximize what you get back in return?

Also, in case you’re living under a rock and don’t know, Shaq got traded to the Cavs. Expect LeBron’s points per game to dip because he will no longer have the middle at his disposal. The attention that Shaq will bring to the paint will make it far more difficult for James to drive, but if anyone can make it work, it’s “The Bron.”

And yes, I promised some celebrity couple names, so take your pick: LeShaq (too easy), ShaBron (sounds like the name of a Martin Lawrence movie), and my favorite, LeBraq.