Ainge defends Perkins trade 'as of today'

Danny Ainge tells Comcast SportsNet New England's Greg Dickerson that he has no second thoughts -- at the moment -- about the trade that sent Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City.

But ask him again in a few months, and he might have a different answer.

"I would do the trade over again in a heartbeat, as of today," said Ainge. "But at the end of the season, I'll look at all the things and I'll be the first one to say . . . some things that we could have done or that we didn't, or things that we did do that we shouldn't [have]."

Ainge flatly rejected the notion that the Celtics lost their toughness with the trade of Perkins.

"That would embarrass me if I was Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce or Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo or whoever else," he said. "[We] got one guy that's tough? That's ridiculous . . .

"It's a team thing. It has nothing to with the presence of one guy."