I'm as confused by this Kendrick Perkins news as I was by the trade.
Perk has signed an extension with Oklahoma City
The Oklahoma City Thunder has agreed to terms on a contract extension for Kendrick Perkins, the 6-foot-10 center acquired via trade with Boston last Thursday, The Oklahoman has learned.
Terms of the deal were not immediately known, but Perkins is eligible for a four-year extension. Perkins earlier this season had turned down a four-year offer worth approximately $22 million from the Celtics.
With the two sides agreeing to a deal now, the risk of Perkins leaving the Thunder as an unrestricted free agent this summer has been removed.
Perkins said in his introductory press conference Saturday that he wanted to be in Oklahoma City for “the long haul.”
“I hope I can be here,” Perkins said. “I (want to) be here. I couldn’t find a better situation for myself. I really want to be here. It’s just a great organization.”
The most he could sign for with Oklahoma City is the same deal he was offered in Boston, regardless of their cap situation. The Thunder and the Celtics are both bound by the same rules in the collective bargaining agreement. So unless I'm grossly mistaken, the Thunder could simply not offer him any more than the could have.
Let's be clear here: Kendrick Perkins is leaving a LOT of money on the table here. I don't care what the new collective bargaining agreement would be… he'd get more than between $5-$6 million a year. Hell even if he wanted to stay in OKC long term, he could have gotten more than that.
So he turned down the Celtics offer at this money… even though he said he wanted to be nowhere but here. Then he accepts OKC offer at this money… why? Was he so pissed at the trade that he wanted to make Danny Ainge look bad? By giving up what could really amount to $15-$20 million? Really?
Or is it that Perk really wasn't planning on being here long term after all? If he was so bent on staying here, then why not take the money he was obviously willing to take somewhere else? We'll need some clarification, I guess, before we find out for sure.
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