As the 2011 trade deadline rapidly approached, Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge began weighing impending-free agent Kendrick Perkins’s trade value.
The Celtics ultimately struck their deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, essentially exchanging Perkins for Jeff Green. The deal appeared to shift the tectonic plates of NBA contention and rocked the franchise even more. “There were literally tears in the locker room,” then-Celtics head coach Doc Rivers recalled. “There were guys crying. It was almost like a death.”
Boston’s coaching staff prepared for an inevitable loss to the Denver Nuggets that evening. Teammates bear-hugged Perkins as he departed.