The Oklahoma City Thunder will have to give up their second-round draft pick next year to the Boston Celtics as part of a ruling by NBA commissioner David Stern.
Right before the trade deadline of the 2010-2011 season, the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a first-round pick. Green finished out the season with the Celtics then signed a one-year contract extension in the offseason. Shortly after, he had an aortic aneurism that required surgery and caused him to miss the entire 2011-2012 season.
It turns out that cardiologists in Oklahoma City knew about Green’s heart condition, and that information should have been disclosed to the Celtics before the trade went through.
The statement made by the NBA says “there was no evidence of bad faith or any intent to withhold information on the part of Thunder management or its physicians,” but since the information was known the Thunder still have to give up a second-round pick in next year’s draft. The NBA requires teams to share any information they have about a player’s health when a trade is being discussed.
The heart condition voided Green’s contract with the Celtics last season, so now he is an unrestricted free agent. Green reportedly would like to sign back on with the Celtics, who have expressed interest in bringing him back.
I am not sure exactly what to think about this one. It seems like a bit of a shady move by the Thunder, but I cannot fault them if the right people were not told about Green’s condition. I am also shocked that this did not come up when the Celtics did their own physical on Green.
It seems like a lot of important people dropped the ball throughout the whole process. At this point, I just hope Green is well recovered from his heart surgery and can get back to playing basketball.
