How the Boston Celtics Trading of Kendrick Perkins Was to Sabotage the LA Lakers

Of all the trades that happened before the trading deadline, the one that was most shocking was not Carmelo Anthony being traded to the New York Knicks, which everyone expected, or Deron Williams being moved to the New Jersey Nets, which no one expected, or Baron Davis being switched with Mo Williams in a battle of the lottery team point guards.

No, the most shocking trade this season was Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins being shipped along with Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a 2012 first-round draft pick.

This was the most shocking trade because it was deemed to be the most unnecessary.

The Celtics are the leading team in the Eastern Conference, being defending Eastern Conference Champions with a mission to win their second NBA title in four years.

Perkins has been an integral part of the Celtics starting lineup since the team won the NBA Championship in 2008 and in fact, his injury in Game Six of the NBA Finals last year is what has been cited by the Celtics and their fans as the reason why they lost the Finals.

So with Perkins just recently returning to the Celtics lineup this month from knee surgery having missed all of the Celtics' games since the Finals last year, everyone expected the Celtics were finally ready to make another (and perhaps final) run at the NBA Championship.

However, with Perkins being traded, that throws a serious wrench in the chemistry of the Boston Celtics and for the first time this season, raises legitimate questions whether they will be able to challenge again for the NBA Championship. 

So why would the Celtics organization make this seemingly suicidal move that deals a major blow to their championship hopes while weakening in a major way one of their distinctive advantages, which is their front-line size and strength and defensive rebounding?

The answer, as it almost always i...