Gut reaction: I hate it. More reason to worry if Ainge has lost his mind.

Some combo of Rondo, #2 pick, Ray’s expiring deal to NO for CP3, T.Chandler, Posey….?

… to trading Perkin.

but how about getting Amare and Barbosa and the #14 (or whatever they have) for Ray and TA and Scal and the #2?

I don’t like it either. Perk is a very good anchor for our defense, and we simply could not replace his defensive presence with anybody in the draft. If we were in rebuilding mode already, maybe somebody in the draft would have better long term potential than Perk, but for this year and maybe next (our present window as I see it), I don’t think anybody in the draft can give us what Perk can.

Frankly makes no sense for Memphis either, because they ARE in rebuilding (or building in their case) mode. It’s a lose – lose.

…but I do here. Perk is as much of the glue of the Celtics now as anyone. Not a headline grabber but a solid double double threat every night. He played Howard better than anybody. Can Perk get better? If Danny thinks “No” then this is possible, but it sure seems to me he can continue to get better. Perk is a pretty inarticulate interview but his likability is high thanks to his effort, grit, got-your-back style. Thabeet doesn’t seem that sure a bet to me. Hell, look at Greg Oden!

But understand there would be more moves to follow, like with the #5 pick for Ray being followed by KG. Not surprising I guess that people here have such short memories, but more than gut reaction is needed to determine if Ainge lost his mind. Poll after Poll had people saying no to KG for Big Al straight up, let alone with Gomes, Green, etc. yet that move along with acquiring Ray brought 17. It never would have happened if anyone here was deciding, Big Al was untradeable.

As a fan do I want to lose Perk? Of course not. But, like with KG, I have to believe in Danny somewhat that there is a master plan with more shoes to drop, just like before. Even the day of the KG trade, many were lamenting Al’s departure, as was I from an emotional level. Danny proved however that the sum of his moves were better than standing pat with a popular, valuable player. I think he is capable of that again if he decided to move Perk.

Maybe Danny thinks that the presence of the Big 3 make Rondo and Perk look much better than they are, and he thinks he can capitalize on that. Not my thinking, but it could be his.

I can`t blame him, he has the right idea….but losing Perk is way too risky right now.

This could only work if DA could also acquire another veteran center {not as good as Perk} for the coming year.

Could be part of the thinking here too. Danny obviously knows more specifics on his medical issue, and separated shoulders can be very chronic. You can only do so much with surgery, it is likely to continue to give him problems throughout his career.

but that’s because I think he’s a bust, anyone else who’s in being looked at in the top 5 absolutely. Listen I love Perk but with the #2 pick in the draft you can grab someone who is going to be a potential all-star (something perk will not be) and build a solid base for the future with rondo. You gotta take off the green lenses on this one. If we did that we could easily trade for a center or sign someone like gortat who can probably give us 80-90 percent of what Perk does, maybe more if they don’t commit 2-3 moving screens a game.

 I’m going to have to start looking at prospects…

  I’m still hoping we go forward with our current starting five, though.

never going to happen,just a lot of smoke

1. This team can win without Perkins, as long as they have the others.
2. Thabeet possibly can be much better in the future.
3. Perkins has reached his ceiling for the most part, but Thabeet can be an all star, which Perkins will not be.
I still get an insurance like a Pachulia, but if it is Thabeet, then I do it and don’t look back.

Perk has a bum shoulder which is not going away, at least not in his lifetime. he is waht we call damaged goods". Ainge knows more about our players than we know. He mortgaged our future foe on flag and he got it. No more flags with our present team; so Flag número 17 cost us Al Jeff. and this year número 1 pick: Plus Delonte who has come on nicely, to Mater Po’s chagrin.
Now Ainge has to do something drastic to compensate for the heavy price he paid for just one flag. He is going for youth or "youts: a la Vinni Callo. They consider any number of possible scenarios of which we may never hear anything. We keep critizising(sic) as if we knew more than they do; but we keep pushing Scal into every trade as if all the other managers were utterly dumb; here we want a lot for a little; it just dont pan as we would like it to be. So be clam and take you Valium; Danny will do whatever he thinks is best within some economic boundaries that will come into play; He may hit the jackpot or it may go askew; but if everybody was so smart, Arenas, Kobe, Jordan, Bird, Pierce, would have been drafted earlier than they were

Make no mistake that Danny Ainge is very serious about improving the team to compete for the title next year. Danny has, very publicly, also said that it is his job to listen to offers for players and pursue options that make the team better. Is Danny looking to move up in the draft? Sure. It’s his job to explore deals that bring in high quality talent. It would be very difficult for anyone to argue that Danny isn’t a great evaluator of talent. That’s what GMs do: build teams and try to improve their roster.

We also know that 90% of the rumors that float out there are nothing more than distortions of the truth. Sort of like bad games of the “Secret” game we all played in gradeschool. The more it gets passed around the more distorted it gets. Not to mention it’s not above the notion that there are some NBA “insiders” who have an interesting sense of humor when it comes to floating rumors.

Somehow I find it highly unlikely that Danny Ainge would be trying to trade Kendrick Perkins when both he and Doc have stated explicitly that this team needs to get bigger up front. “Let’s see, we need to get bigger up front,” says Doc Rivers. “I know!” says Danny, “Let’s trade Perk and the Walker kid for a SF/SG/PG combo player who could turn out to be the next Gerald Green!”

Somehow I doubt the conversation ever took place.

I admit to not having seen Thabeet that much, but when I have, he frequently gave me the impression of not being ready for prime time at the NBA level. He’s huge and can block shots, but iirc he got dominated by the Pitt big who’s about 6’7". In other words, he’s huge, so he can block shots, but somehow seemed a little soft all at the same time. I suspect if we nabbed the 2, it would not be for Thabeet.

Also, does anybody wonder why Memphis would trade the #2 for Perk. Perk’s a nice player and all, but I think his value is greater to our team as presently constituted than he would be to Memphis. Perk is what he is, which is great for us, but Memphis could probably grab a guy with more upside, and since they aren’t ready to contend this year, that makes more sense for them.

Just for kicks, so people stop seeing every move in isolation:

Hypothetical:

1. Ainge trades Perkins/Walker, etc for #2 pick and Warrick, Ross
2. Ainge trades Ray Allen/Rondo to Phoenix for Amare Stoudamire
3. Ainge drafts James Harden/Tyreke Evans with #2 pick
4. Ainge signs Stephon Marbury with part of MLE
5. Ainge signs McDyess for LLE or remainder of MLE

This leaves the team with:

KG/Amare/Pierce/Evans/Marbury – Still have 3 superstars, but Ray’s outside game is replaced by Amare’s inside game – a huge problem for this team going forward. Evans or whomever becomes the guard of the future to replace Ray, team uses Ross or allows rookie a shot at earning the 2 guard spot – or Eddie House starts…etc…2guards are easy to find and a star-level talent at the 2 usually produces early on.

Marbury is the one that would draw the most controversy here – I firmly believe that his age and talent will prevail with a full year under his belt – even the Marbury of the last 2 full seasons in NYC is a pick-and-roll genius who can serve as option 3b on an Amare/KG/Pierce led offensive attack.

Cleary Tom T would have to work Amare into a decent defender, but again, change of scenery may do him well in that dept – KG can’t hurt either. Totally different environment than Phoenix.

The team won a title with 3 new starters before and the team would only be bringing in 2 new players into the starting lineup as Marbury has half a season in the system.

Is it PROBABLE, no…but you can’t deny that that squad would have some serious firepower in the starting 5 and could put a better bench out there as well…so its not lunacy to see where this type of trade rumor could make more sense than simply trading Perkins for a pick…

Chances are, if the trade is crazy, there is more to come..

But where will the minutes be for Perkins when we bring Amare here?

I think Memphis does this deal if we throw in #14 from a Phoenix deal.

I have a feeling something big is going to happen next Thursday. There is no better time to extend the window than this summer.

Potential stars here to me are: Rubio, Evans, Flynn. All pg’s. Pick up JKidd at the MLE for a year to tutor them and wow.

I’m dreaming of a lineup of
1: Kidd/Flynn
2: Barbosa/House
3: Pierce/Giddens
4: KG/Dyess?
5: Amare/Nivens(draft)

Perkins to me is a top 5 center in the league. This reminds me of Al Jefferson. On top of his game and then we trade him. Perk has reached his potential, if not he’s very close. I’ll probably do the trade, 1: because of money (We could sign House to a good deal, possibly bring back Posey, and also resign Powe and Baby good deals, by sending away Allen and Scal. 2: because Thabeet can be as good as Perk if not better (More athletic and lengthy) in 5 years (the same duration for Perk). But I like Perk and I really don’t want to see him go. Let’s wait and see…

I love Perkins for his tough play and great interviews, but the shoulder is scary. Two playoffs in a row he injured it. How can we rely on him when his shoulder can’t take the physical wear and tear of the playoffs.

I’m only saying this to acknowledge the reasoning behind trading him. I am withholding judgment since I have no idea if what is being talked about is only one of a series of trades to be made.

Does anybody wonder why Memphis would trade the #2 for Perk. Perk’s a nice player and all, but I think his value is greater to our team as presently constituted than he would be to Memphis. Perk is what he is, which is great for us, but Memphis could probably grab a guy with more upside, and since they aren’t ready to contend this year, that makes more sense for them.

This “deal” is more valuable to us on the board for fantasy “what if” play…

Who plays center on D if we lose Perk?

Do we force KG to do it and let bigger players lean on him (and his bad knee) all night long? Do we ask Amare to play down low? He’s even lighter than KG.

.. Unless it is going to be a huge upgrade i.e. Dwight Howard replacing Perk, that kind of Upgrade. Their main focus is on maximizing the chances on getting no.18 next season, while garnett and pierce can still run, not taking a chance on untested players hoping they “MAY” be super stars in 5 years time or tanking til the 2011 FA are out. He’s most likely getting a FA or trade someone from the bench to get another supporting big guy.

It’s called rumors for a reason. I bet if a janitor on the C basketball camp said he heard something about a trade with playerA for playerB, a number of people here would be “OMG!!! OMG!! OMG!!”.

he has to understand the window is closing and we have to win NOW

and there is little chance of winning a championship if there is a rookie in the starting lineup…

Larry Bird was a rookie when he won his first title.

as someone already stated they have a good upcoming center in Marc Gasol. Their biggest need is a PF. Maybe they think highly of BBD after averaging 16 and 6 for the playoffs and maybe Ainge thinks he can’t sign him to a reasonable contract. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ainge is really pushing BBD and maybe some of our expiring deals for the #2 pick.

But dang, 80 comments in a few hours.

Shouldn´t some of you get some sleep?

Too many possibilities to figure out what is really going on.

However, I don´t know if I like this scenario.

Perk and Rondo are all about defense, Amare and Barbosa not so much.

Pass ( I guess).

A good big man is hard to find. No way this is true. More flak in the air.

If Ainge in fact offered Perkins and Walker. For one thing, Perkins isn’t that much better than Marc Gasol.

Or would there be a trade exception involved?

PAY ATTENTION

The only reason KG finally agreed to come to Boston was he had a chance at winning a tittle. If you take that chance away like tradeing away Perk (for team long term reasons) you kill his desire to be here. You are assumeing KG’s personal goals are the Celtics goals. The turth is he is only interested in winning championships "NOW’. He did not care about the moneybeing offered here…..he has to be worth at least 50Mil. cash and that does not include the games or shoe deals. Nothing works without KG. Let’s say we trade Perk and what ever deal that’s made is going to take another year or two for the team to get better. Would you be willing to throw away the last few years of your athletic life for that dumg idea.

It’s not necessary to trade Perkins. Two years ago we had a franchise that no one wanted to come and play for, but now people are ready to dump Perk, Rundo, Ray just for some chance that the team chemistry would work.

    Let’s assume the rumor was true ….and of course it probably isn’t…they almost never are.

    If Perk’s shoulder is or can be made OK for the long run, I would NEVER trade him…but… if it is only going to stay the same at best and more likely continue to deteriorate TRADE HIM NOW while his value is the highest (his contract and playoff performances).

    I’ve never had the opportunity to see Thabeet play, but the old , old comment is true…You can’t teach a guy to be 7’3"!

Well, in Memphis’ view he wasn’t worth the #2 pick.

Anytime you can trade a player that averages 8 points and 8 rebounds for the 2nd pick in the draft, you do it. Perkins is a good role player, but you should be able to get a great player at #2. Another option would be to package the pick to another team and get back a replacement for Perkins and another pick.

At the end of the day, I don’t see Memphis doing this, but if they did Ainge wouldn’t turn them down. It might hurt your chances for a ttile in 2010 but would make more sense lomg term.

It was a nuisance offer — Memphis was never going to accept it.

I think if they make this move they end up signing one of the Pistons Centers as a free agent and Ainge picks the shooting guard Evans that he has coveted. Not a terrible idea. Rasheed or McDyess could play our Center position well. Rasheed has owned Dwight Howard over the years. I don’t know how you trade someone like Perk who has worked harder than anyone to be where he is at. But it is an intriging idea.