Clippers Have Renewed Interest in Obtaining Maxwell

The Clippers, who last month rejected a trade with Boston that would have brought veteran Celtic forward Cedric Maxwell to Los Angeles for free-agent center Bill Walton, will most likely re-examine Maxwell’s injured left knee this week and renew negotiations with the Celtics.

Carl Scheer, Clipper general manager, said Tuesday that Maxwell has been rehabilitating his knee here and that they had had dinner Monday night in Los Angeles.

Scheer said that Maxwell, who had arthroscopic surgery in February and was ineffective in the playoffs, has been undergoing therapy with Dr. Tony Daly and working out with former UCLA track coach Jim Bush.

Although Daly is the Clipper physician, Scheer said that Daly is not allowed to give the Clippers reports of Maxwell’s condition without the Celtics’ permission. Bush also works for the Clippers as a conditioning coach.

“But Jim Bush says that Cedric is coming along fine,” Scheer said. “If Maxwell is improved, we’d be back in a position where we could talk to the Celtics about a trade. We will ask the Celtics (this week) to allow us to talk to Daly about the knee. If, in the next two weeks, Maxwell’s lateral movement is improved, he might be back close to full effectiveness. Now, we don’t know.”

Walton has publicly expressed interest in signing with Boston, but because of salary-cap restrictions, it is doubtful that the Celtics could present him with an offer sheet until Maxwell is traded. Maxwell earns $900,000 a year.

“I think we’ve got them (the Celtics) locked in,” Scheer said. “I don’t see them signing Bill without us.”