7:00pm: Rivers and Ainge will talk through the weekend, with plans to have a resolution by Monday on Rivers' future as Celtics coach, Wojnarowski reports, adding that Rivers told the Clippers on Friday that he's no longer interested in coaching their team (Twitter links).
6:39pm: Talks won't start up again tonight, but the Clippers believe discussions will resume at some point, and until the team hires a coach other than Rivers, he remains their target, according to Shelburne and ESPN.com colleague Marc Stein. Their report also indicates that one of the Clippers' other coaching candidates told ESPN's Chris Broussard that owner Donald Sterling will take the weekend to ponder whether to move on from Rivers.
4:27pm: Chris Paul "badly" wanted Rivers as his coach and pushed the Clippers to make a deal to get him from the Celtics, according to Wojnarowski. Rivers isn't going after the Clippers job anymore, as his choices for next season appear to be down to coaching for the Celtics or returning to broadcasting, Wojnarowski hears.
4:23pm: A source close to Rivers tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com that he believes Rivers will be coaching somewhere next year, in spite of Rivers' frustration with the current situation. Meanwhile, the Clippers had intended to negotiate through the weekend with the Celtics before talks broke down today, Shelburne reports (Twitter links).
3:50pm: The NBA's on-again, off-again deal of the summer appears to be off again, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald. Murphy reports that negotations between the Clippers and Celtics have ended again, and while there's a possibility they could re-open for a third time, both sides seemed to acknowledge today that nothing could be gained.
"The Celtics' price (for Rivers) was a first round pick, and the Clippers weren't willing to do that," a source told Murphy, which echoes an earlier report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who said L.A. had only put a second-round pick on the table. Wojnarowski has since backed up Murphy's report, tweeting that Rivers is no longer expected to pursue the Clippers' job after talks failed again today.
After the Celtics cancelled a press conference this morning, it was presumed that the Clippers had sweetened their offer, or at least come back to the table to continue discussing potential compensation for Rivers. However, according to Murphy, today's presser wasn't cancelled due to negotiations, but rather due to the fact that Rivers needed more time to ponder his future. Rivers and GM Danny Ainge are now tentatively scheduled to address the media on Monday.
Wasn’t it pretty clear that the league would veto ANY compensation for Rivers? And any subsequent trade that looked like it included surreptitious compensation?
Why do the Celtics want to keep paying Rivers?
Doc should explore other opportunities, the Clips don’t believe he is worth a 1st round draft pick. Denver expressed interest in him, and I believe that would be a good spot. They got a good young team with Lawson, Manimal, Chandler, McGee, Galinari (once he is recovered). Their pick is #27 so maybe Ainge should reconsider them.
But that’s the point, the league won’t let that happen, right? No draft choice for Rivers, or have I totally misunderstood every word out of David Stern’s mouth?
Honestly, I am confused. I heard Stern say something like that, but then you keep reading the Celtics want a 1st round pick. This whole trade saga has been a big mess. One thing that is for sure, Doc won’t be coaching in Boston next season.