Seven years after trade from Thunder, Jeff Green gets his Finals shot

The NBA had come to Oklahoma City in 2008, but its reality was lagging behind.

The cold, hard truth of pro basketball business arrived on Feb. 24, 2011, when the upstart Thunder — in need of a veteran bruiser — traded Jeff Green to Boston to get one. Kendrick Perkins would be an important acquisition, but there was nothing sweet about the sorrow of parting with Green.

“I have unbelievable respect for Jeff Green,” an emotional Thunder general manager Sam Presti said that day. “I value him greatly.”

The Thunder made the NBA Finals a year later, and Green was dealing with more important realities by then.