Kendrick Perkins Delivers the Worst Playoff PER in NBA History

Say what you want about John Hollinger's player efficiency rating. While it might not be the holy grail of advanced statistics, it's generally a good indicator of production. And when a player manages to have a negative rating over an entire postseason, you can be absolutely certain that he was horrible.

Kendrick Perkins had a PER of -0.7 in 11 playoff games for the Thunder, the worst ever for a player with over 200 minutes.

Perk finished with 24 turnovers, 24 points, 39 fouls, and only five blocks in the Thunder's disappointing run, shooting a mind-boggling 17% from the field in 5 games against the Memphis Grizzlies. Head coach Scott Brooks somehow decided to play his broken-down center 23 minutes per game, and Perkins repaid his boss with an atrocious plus/minus of -40.

Kendrick has never been able to create his own shot, but he was at least serviceable on offense for the C's. Unfortunately, he now struggles to even get off the ground, causing him to miss a barrage of point blank looks in the postseason. Despite Perkins' new role as the worst starter in the NBA, his apologists like to say "he still gives you great interior D." That argument is now laughable as he was absolutely abused by the Memphis big men: Zach Randolph averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds and Marc Gasol averaged 19 and 8.

Perkins has never been the same since tearing his ACL in the 2010 finals, and though he's only 28 years old, the 270 pounder has already logged a decade's worth of wear-and-tear as a pro.  He's essentially a minimum-worthy role player at this point, yet he's set to make around $20 million for the next two years.

Though it seemed like a decent move at the time, Sam Presti's 2011 trade of Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins has doomed the small-market Thunder. Not only could OKC desperately have used Green this postseason, but they would have had the cap space to re-sign James Harden if not for Perkins' albatross of a contract.

After Jeff Green's excellent second half return from heart surgery, I think most Celtics fans are happy with their end of the bargain.


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