Perk up or pack up?

When news broke that Danny Ainge traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson for Nenad Kristic and Jeff Green, a lot of Celtics fan were disappointed. And it's not surprising. After all, why change something that works?

Robinson, albeit prone to poor shot selection, provided a spark off the bench. He and Glen Davis can put the ball in the hoop whenever the Big Four can't. And Perk, well, we all know what he did. He was the man in the middle when the Cs won it all back in 2008. He provided the toughness that the Celtics needed to take a very competent Orlando Magic team to seven games in the Eastern Conference Semis back in 2009, despite the absence of Kevin Garnett. And lastly, he made life miserable for Andrew Bynum, and any of the Lakers' bigs, in last year's Finals. It wasn't until he tore his ACL that Kobe Bryant and co. were able to put the Cs away in game seven.

He is such an important piece that Doc Rivers strongly believes that they could've won the title last year had Perkins been around during game seven.

With that said, it's easy to understand why not too many Celtics fans are happy about this move. Even Kevin Garnett is upset that he won't find that familiar face in the front court.

Perk up Boston. This move may not be all that bad.

Now, I won't bring up Perkins' contract and the Celtics' offer, because while it played a factor in the materialization of the trade, I'm going to look at it from another angle. If you want to know more about the contract, might as well get your info from Yahoo!Sports. 

So when I said I'm going at it from another angle, I was referring to the players that the Cs got in the trade in exchange for Perkins and Robinson -- Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green. 

Let's start with Krstic because he'll be the new man in the middle. It's a given that Krstic is bad post defender, and at 5.4 rebounds per game, obviously, he's not a board crasher as well. His redeeming quality maybe his offense. He can finesse his way around the basket and has a decent outside shot, but even that pales in comparison to what Perkins brings to the Celtics. Think of the Krstic-Perkins comparison in the same way Kelly Dwyer compares KG and Amar'e Stoudemire, wherein Krstic is Stoudemire and Perkins is Garnett. While Nenad's offense is slightly better, Perkins' impact on the defensive end is just so much better. 

And with the O'Neals still nursing injuries, there's going to be some concern with Krstic spending heavy minutes at center. But before the Celtic fan in you starts pressing the panic button, think about this: Krstic is more experienced than Semih Erden and Luke Harangody. The two rookies may have shown some promise, but take into account that they're not yet exposed to the kind of physicality that awaits in the post-season. Nenad, on the other hand, is no stranger to the playoffs. He got a taste of the action back with the New Jersey Nets and with Oklahoma City Thunder. Besides, the rest of the Cs will be around to help him out on defense. There's Rajon Rondo who can swipe the ball from opposing bigs. There's Paul Pierce and Ray Allen who can provide timely help defense. And then, there's 'The Big Ticket'. 

When people say that Garnett's going to have a hard time protecting the paint without Perkins, I think their giving too much credit to the latter. If memory serves me right, KG had a hand in turning Davis, Perkins and Leon Powe from good to great post-defenders. Who's saying he can't do the same to Krstic? Yes, playing D without Kendrick won't be the same but it doesn't mean it can't be done. And when Shaq returns, everything should be alright. Don't even bother questioning Krstic's toughness. When the situation calls for it, he can channel the inner WWE wrestler in him.

Now let's move on to Green. I agree with Dwyer when he said that the Georgetown standout is no good in defending opposing power forwards, so it's quite understandable why Celtic fans are skeptical about his acquisition. But does this cornerman really have to log in heavy minutes at the four?

The departure of Perkins makes the Celtics a smaller team when pitted against the Lakers or the Spurs in the Finals. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we must remember that the Cs must make it out of the East first before they could get another title shot. And the New York Knicks, Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls will be in their way.

The Knicks now have Carmelo Anthony, the Heat have Lebron James and the Bulls have a quartet of formidable small forwards led by Luol Deng. You can't expect Pierce to defend these guys without getting into foul trouble. And being the team's leading scorer, the Celtics can't afford to have 'The Truth' on the bench for most of the game, especially during the playoffs. That's where Green comes in.

With his athleticism, Rivers' defensive sets and KG's, um, support, Green should be able to make the small forwards of the Eastern Conference sweat for their points. Though he doesn't look like the same defensive stalwart that helped the Thunder make it to the playoffs for the first time last season, he still struts a defensive rating of 110, which is at par with Shane Battier's. And you know that Battier is one of the leagues best defenders at the three. 

Besides, why play Green at the four when you got 'Big Baby'? 

And if you're worried about missing Robinson's offense, don't fret. Green jacks up just as much threes as the little guy.

So perk up Boston. This move isn't all that bad.