Kendrick Perkins: At the trade deadline, I get a text from Bron: “Hey, we about to come get you.” Matter of fact, I’m lying. Bron came to New Orleans. He tells me, “We’re about to come get you. We want you on the team, on the bench.” I’m like, “Cool.” Then KD texts me: “Hey Perk, we want you in OKC.” Both teams trying to trade for me. Cleveland offered a second-round pick. This is the year they won the title. Also the year OKC blew the 3–1 lead to Golden State. Dell Demps comes to me and says, “We’re not trading you, Perk. We want you here for our locker room. You’re going to retire a Pelican.” I said, “Okay. So you’re telling me…” He says, “Yeah. We want you here the next two years. Retire here. We’ve got a plan.” I’m like, “Oh, s***.” Two more years. Cool. At that point, I didn’t know where my career was going. Once you’re on vet minimum, you get stuck on vet minimum. So he turns down both teams. End of the season, he says, “I’mma knock these moves out and we’ll get you straight.”