Rumors and reports over the past couple of days have the Celtics willing to trade their No. 19 pick in Thursday nights NBA Draft, and maybe even ready to package Kendrick Perkins, too. Danny Ainge, the team's GM, spoke to that today, and while Boston will keep its options open, they will not be trying to move up: "We're not trying to move up," said Ainge. See?
This seemingly puts an end to those Perkins-and-first-round-pick package rumors, but it does not copletely rule out the Celtics making a move tonight.
Instead, Ainge said, he is open to either moving down in the draft or out altogether - the latter option a move that could save them a scintilla of money for a veteran free agent.
Another league official, asked about the Perkins rumor, quashed the possibility, saying that it's simply too difficult to move an injured player who is about to have surgery. A team spokesman said that the Celtics center could have surgery as early as tomorrow to repair a torn medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
It is probably wise not to discount the role those torn ligaments in his right knee are playing in any trade talks, especially after it prompted one league official to comment, "No one trades [for] guys on operating table." Surgery on the knee has been postponed until the swelling goes down.