Team gets plenty of proposals

Teams are swarming the Clippers -- and not just on the court.

Coach Mike Dunleavy said before Saturday’s game that teams had offered trade proposals for injured forward Elton Brand and center Chris Kaman.

“We’ve been contacted by everybody about a lot of our guys,” Dunleavy said. “We’ve had all kinds of calls on Elton Brand and Kaman. But some of them, you could do a comedy about it.”

So far, the offers are in the same laughable category of what Dunleavy said the Clippers would want from the Boston Celtics in exchange for point guard Sam Cassell, another player in whom teams have shown interest.

“Anybody can make an offer on anybody,” Dunleavy said. “I don’t know what it would take for Boston, but if they offered [Kevin] Garnett, I would probably take it. Ray Allen or [Paul] Pierce, I would have to consider it.”

Joking aside, Dunleavy reiterated that trade discussions would probably intensify as next month’s deadline nears.

Dunleavy said that the team isn’t aggressively shopping Cassell but recognizes interest around the league in acquiring the veteran point guard.

“There are no big-time players that are going to be out there for the most part that would get you there,” Dunleavy said. “Somebody is looking for a piece. I understand why they would throw Sam’s name out there.

“Sam is a piece. He is a guy that can put up big numbers from a backup position and start a game for you, so I can understand that.”

The point guard-by-committee -- Cassell, Dan Dickau and Brevin Knight -- hasn’t gone as planned, mostly because of injuries, Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy said he wanted to use each of their strengths, but all have battled some type of setback, although Dickau’s hyper-extended elbow did not force him to miss time.

“We were hoping to do it by committee,” Dunleavy said. “You have Sam who can really score, Brevin who can defend and Dan who runs a team well and scores and pushes the ball.

“Each one of them has played well at different times in the season for us.

“But on the other hand, they’ve also run into matchups that haven’t been good matchups on a given night and we’ve also run into injuries as well. That’s hampered what we are trying to do.”

Forward Josh Powell played despite sustaining a mild strained groin against the Utah Jazz on Friday.

“I can’t afford not to go,” said Powell, who is the Clippers’ only traditional frontcourt player available off the bench.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com