Everyone's question was answered last Thursday, as the Celtics made a blockbuster deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the eleventh hour. Kendrick Perkins is gone, and in his place, the C's have added a pair of solid bench players to help them chase Banner 18 this spring.
The questions poured in, many of them shocked and emotionally charged.
This week's mailbag will attempt to tackle the Perk story from all angles, plus answer the all-important question: Where do the Celtics go from here?
Thanks to everyone for the flood of questions that came in this week. Let's try to keep that up post-deadline, shall we?
How do you see the Celtics doing without Kendrick Perkins? At the beginning of the season, they won all those games without Perk, but granted, they also had a healthy Shaquille O'Neal.
–Kyle
They sure did, didn't they? Check out the numbers — in 47 games without Perkins this season, the Celtics have a dazzling record of 36-11, for a winning percentage of .766. In 12 games with him, they went 8-4, or .667.
Small sample size, obviously, and there are a million other factors contributing to the C's up-and-down record — but you get the point. This Celtics team is plenty capable of playing winning basketball without Perk. A healthy Shaq would be huge, but even without Shaq, the C's have a deep army of big men that can fill in. Nenad Krstic and Troy Murphy are more than capable of giving Doc Rivers quality minutes.
The Celtics will miss Perk for his toughness and his defensive prowess, but the Celtics are an overall tough, strong defensive team. No one guy can take that identity away. The C's are still going strong.
I wonder how Boston fans would have reacted if Perk hadn't been traded and had signed with another team in free agency.
–celtics_soldier, via Twitter
My theory is that these moves are always exponentially more painful when they happen midseason. Turnover is natural over the summer — guys change hands all the time via free agency in July and fans grown numb to it. But when it happens in February? That's tough. Perk was there for shootaround one morning and was gone that afternoon. It's tough seeing a guy ripped away in the heat of battle.
The problem wasn't just that Perk left. It was unrealistic to expect him to stay in Celtic green all his life. But because of both when he left and how he left, this move was especially difficult to stomach.
Do you think Perk would have stayed with the Celtics if they'd gotten Banner 18?
–celtics_soldier, via Twitter
I have no reason to say yes to this one. If one championship didn't convince him to stay in Boston long term, then why would a second one change anything? Perk was probably headed out either way, which is a big reason Danny Ainge traded him.
Fans have picked up on a couple of clues this past week as to how eager Perk was to move to OKC. First, he told the local media he had his eye on the Thunder for months, even speaking to his agent about it. Then he signed a four-year extension just days after the Thunder dealt for him. Clearly Perk was ready to move on from Boston. Perhaps it was a case of "Tony Allen Syndrome" — the guy just felt overshadowed by the army of Hall of Fame players around him and he wanted a new home so he could establish his own identity.
Why is everyone thinking with their hearts? Why aren't they using their brains? Did we just wake up all the casual Celtics fans who were not aware Perk has amassed a whopping 200 minutes this year? Did we awake the "fan" who doesn't know Nenad Krstic is a starting center who averages double Perk's points?
–Daniel
Everyone seems to be underrating Krstic amid all this Perk drama. The lanky Serbian has been a starting center throughout his seven-year career in the NBA. He's been a key player on three playoff teams — the Nets in 2005 and '06, and then the Thunder last spring. He held his own last April against Pau Gasol in a six-game playoff series.
He's better offensively than Perk and also healthier than Perk. Is he an overall better fit in Boston than Perk? Probably not, but he's a solid addition to a trade that also gave the Celtics an explosive bench scorer for the playoffs. Jeff Green was the big prize in this deal but Krstic is a very, very solid secondary piece.
What good is Krstic when he's 20 feet from the rim taking jump shots when we need rebounds? Didn't we see that last season out of Rasheed Wallace? How did that work out?
–9-3
First of all, it's worth noting that Krstic's rebounding numbers are significantly better than Rasheed Wallace's were last year in Boston — 5.5 per game for Krstic to Sheed's 4.1. That's a sizable difference. Second of all, I'd argue the Celtics are better equipped this year to accept a downgrade in boards from the center position.
If you look at the C's depth of power forwards, all of them are impressive on the glass. Kevin Garnett is having a resurgence this season, looking more like the 2008 KG than the guy who battled injuries last year. Glen Davis has made big-time strides as a rebounder. And the C's just acquired Murphy, who was a walking double-double machine in Indiana and will give the Celtics a big boost off the bench.
Furthermore, the C's will probably benefit from the way Krstic's jump shooting spaces the floor. Rajon Rondo has become more aggressive as an individual scorer this season and Krstic's shooting will help open lanes for Rondo to slash and score. That makes up for any deficiencies in Krstic's rebounding, doesn't it?
I'm just putting it out there: I'd rather have Semih Erden than Jermaine O'Neal.
–Troy
Certainly a valid point, Troy. You look at each big man in a vacuum, and you have to like what Erden gave the Celtics this season. He's younger, healthier and cheaper than J.O. He quietly contributed very well to the C's winning ways while J.O. and the other bigs were injured.
But unfortunately, Danny Ainge's job wasn't that simple. He couldn't just unload J.O. because he liked Erden better — he had to find a trade partner, and no one wanted to deal for an aging, banged-up center with $8 million or so still left on his contract. Erden was the easier guy to move and Danny needed to move someone to free up room for this spring's buyout market.
Speaking of said buyout market …
Two questions — is Boston leaning toward keeping Chris Johnson? And if not, who are they eyeing to fill that last roster spot? Leon Powe?
–LaughAtLebron, via Twitter
I have my doubts about Johnson, who was brought in as an emergency fill-in at center, since Perk had been dealt and Krstic hadn't yet joined the team from Oklahoma City. He arrived last Thursday on a 10-day contract and he filled in nicely. He had a nice run while it lasted, but he'll probably be gone by Sunday when his time's up.
When Johnson departs, the Celtics will be left with one roster spot still open — they freed up three spots last week, and they filled two this week with Murphy and Sasha Pavlovic. As for the last spot, Leon Powe is likely out of the picture as the team's greater need is one more guard.
The C's aren't likely to add a serious impact player at this point, but adding one last experienced guy for injury insurance would be nice.
