Former NBA player Kendrick Perkins revealed that he was not mad at Boston Celtics general manager and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge when he was traded back in 2011. Perkins said that Ainge made a “smart move” when he traded him eight years ago.
Perkins said on Hoop Collective Podcast that he actually knew that he was getting traded because he was in constant communication with Ainge. Perkins said that the Celtics executive was very honest to him, telling him that the Celtics cannot offer him the salary that he is expected to command once he becomes a free agent.
The hulking center was about to become a free agent in 2011 and was planning to look for a contract that would pay him more than $10 million per year. Instead of losing him for nothing, the Celtics sent him and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, and a first-round pick.
“I was not mad at Danny because Danny could have sent me anywhere,” Perkins said. “He sent me to place that he knew they was going to pay me what I was worth. So it wasn’t a bad trade on Danny’s part because I was leaving Boston anyway that summer, so it was actually a smart move by Danny.”
After his eight-year stint in Boston, Perkins played five seasons in Oklahoma City. He also had stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans before calling it a career after the 2017-18 NBA season.
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