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In the "What were they thinking?" department, the Boston Celtics unloaded Kendrick Perkins in Oklahoma City on deadline day.

Yes, it has been a number of weeks since the trade occurred and it wouldn't be filed under "news". But the fact that the Celtics aren't the same team is news. Their recent lack of toughness can be attributed to the loss of their former center.

Keep reading after the jump to see how much worse they are without the man they used to call "Perk".


"They still have not beaten our starting five."

The above statement seemed to be the default answer for Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers when asked about their loss to the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals.

What did Rivers mean by that? He meant the Celtics would have won the 2010 Finals if Kendrick Perkins was able to play in Game 7. And he'll still tell anyone the same exact thing if asked about losing to the Lakers. (All due respect Doc, the Celtics have never beat the Lakers' starting five either. Remember Andrew Bynum missing the entire 2008 Finals?)

Anyway, Doc's theory is that no one can beat the Celtics' starting five when they have Kendrick Perkins at center.

So why did you trade him?

Why did you trade your "x-factor" away if he was the key to winning a championship?

It doesn't make much sense and now the Celtics are going to pay for it. In fact, they have already begun to suffer from the loss of the big man. Since trading Perkins, the Celtics are 9-6-- picking up losses against the Nuggets, Clippers, Sixers, Nets, Grizzlies, and Rockets. (Not exactly the top tier.) They were atop of the Eastern Conference at 41-15, holding a three game lead over Chicago. Now Boston has fallen a full game behind the Bulls at 50-20.

During the last 15 games without Perkins, the Celtics went 2-4 over a six game stretch that led Rivers to question the team's toughness.

Toughness?

And what was Kendrick Perkins' M.O.? Toughness.

Are they now starting to realize that giving away Perkins and Nate Robinson for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic was the worst trade for any team this season? They should.

And with Perkins gone, there are no viable candidates to fill the void left in an already weak rebounding team.

Glen Davis is an undersized power foward that cannot clash the boards with seven-footers. Nenad Kristic has no chance at challenging the likes of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Jermaine O'Neal is never healthy and not even close to what he used to be. And Shaquille O'Neal seems to miss every other three games with his reoccurring injuries. The O'Neals, Davis, and Kristic cannot give the Celtics the same presence and production Perkins gave them.

Not only have they lost their chance to beat the Lakers without Perkins, but they might not even get out of their own Conference.

Having Kendrick Perkins gave the Celtics two things the top Eastern Conference teams did not have. That was size and toughness.

But with teams such as Miami and Chicago throwing out the likes of Chris Bosh, Joel Anthony, Erick Dampier, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Omer Asik, Boston will have a difficult time grabbing rebounds. This doesn't make Miami and Chicago incredibly better than Boston, it's just a battle in which the Celtics will be at a disadvantage.

That battle being size. The same battle that made the difference in the Lakers' 2010 title victory over the Celtics.

To simply put it, it's like having five dollars to buy a sandwich. The tasty sandwich (NBA title) costs five dollars(starting five). But for some reason, you (Celtics) give away one of those dollars (Perkins) for 25 cents (Green and Kristic). You cannot buy the five dollar sandwich (NBA title) with $4.25 (current Celtics lineup).