Throwback Thursday: The saddest moment in NBA trade deadline history
Shortly after we got over the lesser news that the Boston Celtics had traded Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City ten years ago, the major hit came... Semih Erden was traded to the Cavs. In all seriousness, Semih was loved in Boston, seemed genuinely crushed by the trade, and the promising start to his NBA career ended up being the highlight.
I had conversations with Celtics Life writers after the Perk trade, where we tried to come to terms with losing our center. And as fans always do you, try and eventually be optimistic. I kid you not we discussed "Well we still have Semih." And then boom, that trade happened and it was going to take a lot longer to rationalize the day's moves.
The Celtics have not made it back to the Finals since they traded Semih. Coincidence? I think not! i will say this, you can't convince me that Semih wouldn't have had a solid career in Boston if he remained. Nothing about his rookie stint here showed me anything but a NBA player. While I'm not going to go as far as saying this trade broke him, I mean it didn't kind of break his heart. You went from hanging around and joking with KG, Pierce, Rondo, Ray, and Shaq to a brutal Cavs team in Cleveland. Could see Semih saying, "I didn't come all the way over here from Turkey for this. Peace out NBA!"
"See you later coach." 😢