Brains of Beantown: Why the Boston Brass Know Something About Perkins We Don't

The trade deadline has come and gone, and, as always, there are winners and losers. This year, however, there is something else, something that is hurting me like a piece of glass in the bottom of my foot.  

The Boston Celtics.

The Celtics moved Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder, receiving in return Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.  

I have one simple question for the Celtics. Why?

It seems the Celtics are building toward their future by giving up winning this year.  

Green will be a solid player for them, but he just is not at that point in his game or career in 2011.  

Krstic is a decent man in the middle, but he has nothing like the presence of Perkins, one of the least expendable pieces in Boston.  Perkins brought a toughness that Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo fed off of.  An enforcer on the defensive end, he made the team much better when he was on the court.  

Nate Robinson was also a good player for Boston, giving Rondo a breather whenever necessary.  He knew his role, supplying a mix of veteran leadership and youthful exuberance, a hard combination to find in many NBA players.

So after seeing this deal go through (barring physicals), I have come to the conclusion that Danny Ainge has fallen asleep and someone from the Miami Heat front office has infiltrated his desk.  

If this isn't the case, maybe Ainge does know something that the general public doesn't.

Perkins has been out most of the season with a right knee injury and will be out at least 10 days with a tear in his left MCL.  

If this injury turns out to be serious, I do not think the deal will go through.  The Thunder already rescinded a deal in 2009 when Tyson Chandler failed to pass his physical. If injury is the reason for shipping off Perkins, this idea may be foiled after a physical.

What does this do for the Thunder?  With a healthy Perkins, this may be seen as the pickup of the year in the NBA.  This turns a middle-of-the-playoff pack Oklahoma City team into a title contender overnight.  If Perkins is healthy, he may have a chance to lead his second team to the NBA Finals.

What does this do for the Celtics?  For one, it makes the fans wonder what's going on.  When I read of this move I thought that it was a joke.  

It also does nothing good for the core of the Celtics team.  A mostly veteran squad, their window for winning is closing quickly.  With this move of Perkins, it makes the Celtics seem like they are ready to start rebuilding.  

That cannot be sitting well with the likes of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.  It seemed the Celtics had their chips all in for this season, but now the team has taken a step back.  

This may go down as one of the worst moves in Celtics history.