It actually stunned me Tuesday that the 98.5 and WEEI phone lines weren’t jammed with NBA conspiracy calls (yet again).
I mean, if there ever was a time for Celtics fans to complain about the operations of Team Stern, Tuesday was it.
If you haven’t heard, the Celtics were awarded Oklahoma City’s second round draft pick (via Charlotte) in the 2013 NBA Draft because it appears the Thunder were not truthful about the health of Jeff Green around the time of the controversial February 2011 trade of Kendrick Perkins.
In other words, THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
The NBA has deemed GM Sam Presti and the Thunder guilty of either having something to hide about Jeff Green’s heart condition or not doing their due diligence by consulting with team doctors.
Celtics doctors were the ones who found Green to have an aortic aneurysm just prior to the start of the 2011-12 season and Green ended up missing the entire year.
Had Green played this past season, there is little doubt he would have made at least some sort of positive contribution to a team that was just minutes away of reaching the Finals. The Celtics certainly could have used him to guard LeBron James for a couple of minutes in Game 6. In fact, here’s saying that Green’s scoring ability would have been just enough to propel the Celtics over the Heat.
In 2010-11, the Celtics were the best team in the NBA prior to the Perkins-Green swap. That’s well documented.
But if Oklahoma City doctors had discovered even the slightest thing wrong with Green, don’t you think Danny Ainge would have hesitated on pulling the trigger?
I’m not the world’s biggest “Perk” supporter (he averaged a dreadful 4.8 ppg and 6.8 rebounds in the Finals against the Heat), but I do realize that the Celtics season would not have spiraled out of control last year like it did if it had not been for the controversial trade.
Yup, the biggest Celtics honks should be crying today that Presti and OKC cost the Celtics TWO championship titles. And while that statement may be a little excessive, this topic is still more than worthy of detailed exploration.
Just a second round pick for something that altered the course of two contending seasons? Get mad Celtics fans. Today, you have the right.
