Manning Requests a Trade : Clippers: Forward is said to be unhappy with his line of communication to Brown, who was his coach at Kansas.

Danny Manning, his long relationship with Coach Larry Brown apparently having been strained beyond repair, has asked the Clippers to trade him.

Aware of the salary cap-related difficulties of doing so because Manning makes $2.6 million, agent Ron Grinker said Saturday they would be willing to restructure the contract if it stood in the way of a deal.

“We would rather not do that,” said Grinker, who plans to fly from his home in Cincinnati to Los Angeles on Monday because of the situation. “But for sanity’s sake, we might.”

Manning has been the foundation of the Clipper future since being picked No. 1 during the 1988 draft out of Kansas, where he was coached by Brown as the Jayhawks won the national championship.

He has been the team’s best player this season and might become its first all-star since Marques Johnson in 1986. But management probably will have to try to trade him before the Feb. 25 trading deadline rather than have tension lingering around the franchise’s two most visible figures.

“Danny has always taken a wait-and-see attitude regarding his future with the Clippers,” Grinker said. “Now, he feels he has no future with the team, with so many of the guys unsigned coupled (with) losing and the frustration of the inability to communicate with his coach. It’s not Larry’s fault. It’s not Danny’s fault. It’s just become an irreconcilable situation that just makes them incompatible.”

Manning, who could not be reached for comment, apparently reached his current level of frustration after playing only 24 minutes Wednesday at Detroit despite having scored 32 and 35 points the previous two games. Brown cited Manning’s poor defense and has also been critical of the lack of leadership provided by captains Manning, Ron Harper and Mark Jackson.

Manning told the Orange County Register: “In no way am I trying to take his (Brown’s) job or anything like that. He’s a great teacher, but we’ve been together an awful long time. Too long, actually.”

Brown said the comments will not affect Manning’s role with the Clippers and denies claims that he and Manning rarely speak directly.

“I don’t think that’s accurate at all,” Brown said. “But if he feels that way, he feels that way. I talk to him as much or more as any of our players.

“(The trade request) comes at a difficult time, when the team is struggling and everything. But sometimes I think getting everything out into the open clears the air and might help the situation.”

Clipper officials had decided before Manning’s announcement to pursue trades after the team lost eight of 11 games. Although odds were against Manning staying with the Clippers after becoming an unrestricted free agent next July, they at least had some degree of optimism because Grinker is good friends with executive vice president Harley Frankel.