Celtics Trade Kendrick Perkins, Nate Robinson to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, Draft Pick

by Evans Clinchy on Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 3:40PM

In perhaps the most shocking development of the NBA trade deadline, the Celtics have agreed to trade Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder, dismantling the starting five that won a championship in Boston in 2008.

Nate Robinson is also headed to Oklahoma City. He spent exactly a year with the Celtics, after arriving in Boston last February at the trade deadline.

The Celtics will get back a pair of big men, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic, in exchange for their two key pieces. Both Green and Krstic are regular starters for a Thunder team that made the playoffs last season and currently sits fourth in the Western Conference. The Celtics will also got the Clippers' first-round pick in 2012, which Oklahoma City owned, according to The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn.

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the trade via Twitter.

The C's had two reasons to unload Perkins — the first being his contract, which expires at the end of this season, and the second being his injury history. The big man had recently encountered trouble with both knees, tearing his right ACL during the NBA Finals last June and straining his left MCL this week. Perkins was nearing the end of his eighth season in Celtic green.

As for Robinson, his role on the Celtics' bench had started to become obsolete with the return of Delonte West and the strong play of Von Wafer.