Major Snag in Clipper Talks With Nixon

The Clippers’ attempt to sign free-agent point guard Norm Nixon hit a major snag Thursday night, only a few days after it appeared that the sides had made significant progress toward a contract agreement.

Fred Slaughter, Nixon’s agent, said Thursday that he will no longer negotiate with Clipper General Manager Carl Scheer. Slaughter would not specify a reason, but he expressed anger that the Clippers would not budge from their first offer of $400,000 a season for three years.

“I will never in my life talk to Carl Scheer again,” Slaughter said. “It is neither healthy or helpful. As of Halloween night, Carl Scheer is dead as far as I’m concerned. I just ain’t talking to him, period.”

However, Slaughter said he is willing to negotiate with club president Alan Rothenberg or general counsel Arn Tellem. But it is Scheer who has been in charge of the talks since Nixon officially became a free agent last June. “People can put three and four together as to why I won’t talk (to Scheer),” Slaughter said. “I’m not saying anymore, because he’s the type of person who can take what I say and turn it all around. You can’t say it has broken down when the talks have never begun. They have never moved from $400,000--and that’s a decrease for Norm. That’s ridiculous.”

Nixon, 30, made $413,000 (all but $160,000 deferred) last season under a contract he signed while playing for the Lakers. In a meeting earlier this week, Nixon had come down “significantly,” according to Slaughter, from his original demand for $725,000 a year for four years.

Scheer, who said Wednesday that he was optimistic about Nixon’s chances of returning soon, declined to comment Thursday night on Slaughter’s statement.