Perk nothing but positive
Praises C’s, Danny
CLEVELAND — Kend- rick Perkins was a beloved member of the Celtics’ 2008 championship team, but he holds a more unique place in recent franchise history.
While some will argue the merits of the deal in the long run, trading Perk in February 2011 is one of the only real splotches on Danny Ainge’s transactional resume. The Celts knew they weren’t going to pay what it would take to keep Perkins, and they thought they’d be able to get enough out of Shaquille O’Neal to contend that year. But Shaq played in just two postseason games, and the C’s were eliminated by Miami in the second round.
Now Perkins finds himself on the Cavaliers as a spiritual presence, and he’s back to admiring Ainge’s handiwork.
“The crazy thing is that I haven’t even talked to Danny since the trade,” Perkins said as his team prepared for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. “When I’m watching on TV, he’s always sitting there, but every time I’ve come back to Boston he’s never there. We’ve never even seen each other since then.”
But Perkins has gotten to see a lot of the Celtics, and he’s highly impressed with the latest group Ainge has assembled.
“He should get a lot of praise,” said the big man. “Like, you just think about it. The team that he built with Kyrie (Irving) and Gordon Hayward was a pretty damn good team. And then they get hurt, but that shows you the eye that Danny has for talent. To have those guys get hurt and they’re still in the mix of things right now, you can’t do nothing but respect that. Guys stepped right in and it’s like they didn’t miss a beat.
“I remember when Marcus Smart was coming out, people were afraid to take a chance on him, but Danny did. He went sixth, but I don’t think no other team would have took a chance on him that high — not from what I was hearing. And then you look at Terry Rozier, too. You have to respect what Danny’s doing. He put together a team, a real team.”
A team after Perkins’ heart.
“They’re a physical team,” he said, “a bunch of guys that just go out there and play with a lot of (guts). You can tell they fear nobody. You can see their mindset is kind of like, ‘(Expletive) you, we’re out there.’ And you’ve got to respect that out of young guys like that. They’re not scared of the moment at all. It’s pretty impressive to me.
“Marcus Smart, he’s not scared. He posts guys up. He’s 6-2, 6-3 and he goes to the block and gets physical with it. Nice moves. It’s kind of crazy. But that’s their team.”
If you want to talk crazy, look no further than Perkins’ career path. He and Nate Robinson were traded to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a No. 1 draft pick that became Fab Melo. Four years later, Perkins was moved to Utah in a three-team deal and almost immediately waived. He signed with Cleveland and spent the rest of the 2015 season here before going to New Orleans on a one-year, veteran minimum contract to mentor Anthony Davis.
After that season, Perkins was a man without a team. No one called.
“It was tough,” he said. “Being away from the game is something I didn’t do by choice. I just didn’t get a call. I just worked out every day hoping to get a call. I was in Houston, and every day I’d get up and go to the gym. That’s about it.
“It was humbling and all type of stuff, but I always say God don’t make mistakes, so at the end of the day you’ve got to take the punches or whatever it is and just keep moving.”
Last September, Perkins signed with the Cavs, who waived him before the season. He went to Canton of the G-League, then was re-signed here and played 15 minutes on April 11. He hasn’t played since.
“I’m just here to be a professional — working hard, making sure guys’ minds are right and just bringing a winning mentality,” said the 33-year-old. “I’m showing young guys how to be professionals and staying sharp myself at the same time. I’m just doing whatever I need to do to help win a championship. That’s my goal, and that’s our team goal.”
As for Ainge, Perk has a hug waiting for his old boss.
“I feel like we’ll cross paths again somewhere down the line,” he said. “I don’t have any hard feelings with him at all. He drafted me and gave me my first shot. I have nothing but respect for Danny. He traded me to a great situation, and I got paid, so I can’t be mad at him.”
But the Celtics would have had a better chance in 2011, if Danny hadn’t sent you away, right?
“Oh, absolutely,” said Perkins without hesitation.