Let's talk about the Kendrick Perkins problem in OKC

If it ain't broke, don't fix it doesn't work when it comes to professional sports. There are always ways to get better and improve your chances of winning a championship, any team's ultimate goal.

So even when a team is at the top of the mountain, there is no time to rest on one's laurels. The most marginal of improvements can make all the difference in the NBA, where games swing on a single possession and playoff series often go seven games.

So while the Oklahoma City Thunder enter play Thursday with the league's best record at 42-12, they're surely looking for ways to improve. Basketball Reference's Simple Rating System sees them as the league's best team, ESPN's Hollinger Power Rankings agree, and ESPN's playoff odds give the Thunder a 26.4 percent chance at winning the title, tops in the NBA.

So yes, they're the favorites at present, at least statistically - Vegas has the Heat as the favorites - but would you be complacent with a one-in-four chance at the title? That's probably not good enough, and so the Thunder must find ways to improve those odds, even by fractions of a percentage point.

While an acquisition is one option, they have a very clear means to improving, and it comes from within: stop playing Kendrick Perkins so much. Kendrick Perkins is a problem. Kendrick Perkins might be the league's least valuable player. Kendrick Perkins is holding the first-place Thunder back.

Okay now open your mind up and listen me, Kendrick. I am your conscience, if you do not hear me then you will be history, Kendrick. I know that you're nauseous right now and I'm hoping to lead you to victory, Kendrick.

Perkins should avoid the NBA.com stats section

If you need proof of how bad Perkins has been, you're welcome to turn on Thursday's game between the Thunder and Lakers. If numbers are more your thing or you want something backward-looking, consider the following (using minutes per game as a qualifier):

• Perkins ranks dead last in the NBA in player efficiency rating with a 6.2 mark. The league average is 15 and Perkins' career mark is 11.2, but he hasn't reached double digits since 2009-10.
• Perkins ranks third last among centers with a 43.8 percent mark from the floor. This is a career low and a far cry from his 53.6 percent career mark. He hasn't shot 50 percent since 2010-11, which is astonishing given that most of his shots come from in close.
• Perkins attempts just two free throw attempts per 36 minutes while averaging 5.2 fouls in that same time.
• Nikola Pekovic is the only center who averages fewer blocks-per-minute.

And, of course, there's the biggest issue: Perkins earns $8.7 million this season and is on the books for $9.4 million next year. Perhaps the worst player getting regular minutes in the NBA, Perkins also has maybe the most immovable contract, eating up an eighth of the budget-conscious Thunder's payroll.

Perkins is overpaid and overused

Because Perkins' deal is largely impossible to trade and because the Thunder are far too tight with the purse-strings to use their Amnesty Provision on him, he remains on the team. That much is forgivable; Sam Presti made a mistake handing him an overpriced extension in 2011, but a team can win a championship with an albatross contract.

The bigger issue, then, is that Perkins has played 1,041 minutes this season. That's 20 a night, ranking Perkins sixth on the team in playing time. That is asinine.

Nick Collison is a far better option and has played 112 fewer minutes, and while he's more of a power forward than a center, he's capable of playing either role. Rookie Steven Adams plays five minutes a night fewer than Perkins and, while still raw, has a far greater upside and, in reality, a greater present value.

Perkins ruins everything

Look at how some different Thunder combinations perform with and without Perkins, per NBAWowy:

No matter the combination, it's clear that Perkins is taking a ton off of the table on offense. The defense remains largely unchanged with or without him, but the offense consistently drops from elite to simply average when Perkins is on the floor.

For a team with a player as talented as Kevin Durant, a league-average offense seems impossible. But Perkins weighs him and the rest of the team down, time and again, halting and clogging an otherwise deadly attack.

The Thunder may not be able to trade Perkins, and there may be other ways of improving the team via the trade market, but there is a substantial means of improvement right in front of them. On the court, for 20 minutes a night, ruining everything.