Clippers, Celtics to resume Doc Rivers talks, NBA executives say
The Clippers will make another effort Monday to try to complete a deal with the Boston Celtics for Coach Doc Rivers, said NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The Clippers and Celtics talked again Friday but couldn’t make a deal.
“I think there is still some life left in it,” one executive said. “The door is not closed yet on getting a deal done.”
The Clippers won’t budge on their current offer of a second-round draft pick for the rights to Rivers, the executives said.
However, Boston wants a 2014 first-round pick for Rivers, the executives said, because that is considered a very good draft class.
The Celtics had scheduled a news conference for Friday morning with Rivers and Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, but it was canceled and has been tentatively rescheduled for Monday morning.
Boston newspapers reported that Rivers left Boston on Friday afternoon and returned to his off-season home in Orlando.
The Clippers can be patient in their pursuit of Rivers because two of the candidates for their head coaching position haven’t been offered a job by any other team, and a third candidate hasn’t been interviewed by other teams for any other openings.
Brian Shaw, the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers, and Lionel Hollins, the former Memphis Grizzlies head coach, both interviewed for the head-coaching vacancy in Denver, but neither has been offered the job.
Both Shaw and Hollins have interviewed with the Clippers for their coaching position.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers Coach Byron Scott, who also interviewed for the Clippers’ job, hasn’t met with any other teams.
One executive who is not a part of the Clippers-Celtics deal laughed about the on-and-off negotiations. “The Clippers are going to wait this out,” the executive said.
The Clippers’ All-Star point guard Chris Paul declined to comment Friday morning when asked what his thoughts were about the potential deal between the Clippers and Celtics.
Paul, who was attending Summer Learning Day at the El Capitan Theater, sponsored by the LA’s Best after-school program, smiled and just shook his head and walked away.
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