Amid all of the trade rumors and other speculation, Doc and Danny have been consistent on one point: they both profess a willingness to enter the playoffs with the roster "as is."
I'm not buying.
Sure, I understand coach-speak, or GM-speak, if you prefer. You have to stand behind your current players, and you can't show other teams any signs of desperation. What I don't buy is them believing what they say.
Why?
Perk's shoulder.
Teams have shown an increasing willingness to go after Perk's shoulder with the idea of taking him out. The Lakers have now been successful twice at targeting the shoulder, once last June and once at Christmas. I like Perk. A healthy Perk gives us our best chance of repeating. But we might be able to repeat with a less than fully healthy Perk, if we got someone solid to back him up.
With a healthy Perk, I like our chances of repeating at better than 50-50. With an injured Perk, we still have a chance of repeating. The odds aren't in our favor, of course. But their would still be a chance of winning another title with a Kendrick Perkins who contributes very little in the playoffs. It would just depend on the big we add to the rotation. Heading into the playoffs with Brian Scalabrine as our only reliable player over 6-8 shouldn't be an acceptable option for the Celtics brass.
Even if Perk manages to stay healthy, adding another big would still help us compete better against Cleveland and the Fakers. So standing pat just isn't an option, regardless of what Doc and Danny say.
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