Kevin Garnett Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Stein On McHale, Clips, Celtics, Garnett, Pierce

June 26th, 2013 at 9:27am CST by Luke Adams

ESPN.com's Marc Stein took to Twitter late last night to pass along some items on the fallout from Doc Rivers' move from the Celtics to the Clippers. Here are the highlights from the ESPN.com scribe (all links go to Twitter):

Rockets head coach Kevin McHale is off-limits for the Celtics in their coaching search, in part because Houston feels McHale is a key component of the team's pitch to unrestricted free agent Dwight Howard.
The Clippers are resigned to the fact that the only way they could land Kevin Garnett now would probably involve KG retiring, sitting out a few months, then unretiring and signing with L.A.
Even in that scenario, it's not clear whether the NBA would approve. As Stein notes, although trades aren't allowed, there appears to be wiggle room via free agency for both Garnett and Paul Pierce. The NBA isn't addressing that possibility now, but certainly would if it became more real.
The Celtics may now be leaning toward keeping Pierce through this week and guaranteeing his full 2013/14 salary, in which case he and KG could start next season in Boston.
Given that possibility, the Celtics are considering two options in their coaching search, according to Stein: Hiring a more established coach if the veterans remain on the roster, or going younger if a full rebuild occurs.

Eastern Notes: Garnett, Cavaliers, Nets, Hawks

June 25th, 2013 at 9:30pm CST by Michael Pina

A few notes from around the NBA's Eastern Conference.

The Nets are inquiring about Kevin Garnett's interest to waive his no-trade clause and play in Brooklyn, according to New York Daily News reporter Stefan Bondy.
Terry Pluto from the Cleveland Plain Dealer argues that the Cavaliers would be wise to trade the first overall pick in Thursday's draft, depending on what's available. Pluto covers most rumors he's heard, including the pick for Paul Pierce, Luol Deng, and LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Nets will hold their final pre-draft work out on Wednesday, according to the team's official site. Louisville's Gorgui Dieng will be in attendance.
Hoopsworld.com's Lang Greene believes the Hawks will be looking to package their two first round draft picks to make a trade on Thursday night.
The Bucks and Pistons are two teams reportedly interested in free agent shooting guard J.R. Smith, tweets ESPNNY.com's Ian Begley.

Danny Ainge On Rivers, Garnett, Pierce

June 25th, 2013 at 6:21pm CST by Michael Pina

Earlier today, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge conducted a press conference to address Doc Rivers' departure, as well as the team's immediate future surrounding the likes of Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and how the team will fill its vacant head coaching position.

Ainge told reporters he was ready for the upcoming rebuild, but that he wasn't sure if there would be complete renovation of the team's core players this summer or next, according to a tweet from ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg.
With regards the team's vacancy at head coach, Ainge said he has yet to contact or communicate with any candidates, tweets CSNNE.com's A. Sherrod Blakely.
Blakely also tweeted Ainge's confirmation of earlier reports that the league has mandated the Celtics and Clippers make no trades with one another throughout the 2013/14 season.
According to a tweet from the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn, no decision has yet been made on what the team will do with Pierce and Garnett.
Ainge confirmed that the team's star point guard, Rondo, had nothing to do with Rivers wanting to leave for Los Angeles (tweet).
Ainge ruled himself out as an option to replace Rivers as Celtics head coach, according to a Forsberg tweet.

Celtics, Clips Can’t Swap Players Through 2013/14

June 25th, 2013 at 5:20pm CST by Luke Adams

5:20pm: ESPN.com's Marc Stein tweets that the provision also applies to trades involving three or more teams, so no deals involving both the Clippers and Celtics will be allowed next season.

4:11pm: The Celtics and Clippers have officially agreed on compensation and completed a deal that will make Doc Rivers the new head coach in Los Angeles. However, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, the agreement includes one notable detail that hadn't been previously reported. Berger tweets that the Celtics and Clippers have agreed that they can't exchange players until after the 2013/14 season.

We knew that the league was likely to disallow any trade involving Kevin Garnett heading to the Clippers, since the CBA doesn't permit one deal to be contingent on another, and the NBA viewed Garnett as connected to Rivers. Still, the agreement reported by Berger is even more extreme, eliminating the possibility of any deals between the two clubs for at least a year.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that Paul Pierce couldn't still end up on the Clippers. L.A. can't trade for him, but if Pierce is bought out before June 30th, he could theoretically still sign with the Clips as a free agent.

Latest On Paul Pierce

June 25th, 2013 at 10:26am CST by Luke Adams

Although the Cavaliers and Bucks are among the teams that have expressed interest in Paul Pierce, the longtime Celtic is unlikely to be sent to either of those clubs if he's traded this week, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein. Stein reports that the C's have shown an inclination to work with Pierce in an effort to send him to a favorable destination if they make a deal by week's end.

Boston continues to seek a first-rounder for Pierce, so if the team receives an offer from a contending team willing to give up a first-round pick, the 35-year-old could be moved within the next few days. However, if such a deal doesn't materialize, the Celtics are prepared to guarantee Pierce's full $15MM+ salary, since the club believes he'll still have trade value throughout the offseason and up until the 2014 trade deadline. Pierce's contract is currently partially guaranteed for $5MM, but will become fully guaranteed if he's not waived on or before Sunday.

Although the Celtics' decision to let Doc Rivers out of his contract to join the Clippers, in exchange for a first-round pick, may have signaled the start of a rebuilding period, it's still possible that Boston could start the 2013/14 season with Pierce and Kevin Garnett on the roster. According to Stein, the Celtics believe retaining Pierce may help convince KG to stick around without Rivers, rather than retiring or asking for a trade.

It's also possible that Pierce could be dealt this week to a team that intends to buy him out for the cap savings, says Stein. In that scenario, Pierce could end up reuniting with Rivers by signing with the Clippers in July.

Kyler On Paul, Pierce, Garnett, Bledsoe, Jordan

June 24th, 2013 at 10:17am CST by Luke Adams

While replacing Vinny Del Negro with Doc Rivers on the bench may be worth a first-round draft pick on its own, the Clippers' decision to send the Celtics an unprotected 2015 pick was also closely tied to Chris Paul's future in Los Angeles. As Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld writes in today's NBA AM piece, the Clippers hiring Rivers virtually cements Paul re-signing long-term with the club when free agency begins next month.

The NBA still has to approve the Rivers transaction, but that shouldn't be a problem now that Kevin Garnett and other players aren't involved in the deal, so Kyler takes a look at the next steps for both the Celtics and Clippers once Doc officially changes addresses:

The Cavaliers have expressed "serious interest" in acquiring Paul Pierce, but according to Kyler, they're offering a pair of early second-round picks, while the Celtics are reportedly seeking a first-rounder. Kyler echoes what we heard last night, suggesting that Boston isn't averse to keeping Pierce beyond June 30th, guaranteed his full $15MM+ salary, since the team still feels he could be traded for good value later on.
According to Kyler, there have been reports indicating the Timberwolves have interest in re-acquiring Garnett. I'm not sure exactly which reports Kyler is referring to — Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities speculated about the idea earlier this month, but said his sources shot it down. And Adrian Wojnarowski indicated last night that a reunion between Garnett and the Wolves could happen eventually, but in an off-court, ownership capacity.
In any case, Kyler points out that trading KG still makes sense for the Celtics, and with the NBA unlikely to approve a move to the Clippers, other suitors like the Wolves could get involved (though I think Minnesota is far from Garnett's likeliest destination).
The Clippers have long been reluctant to move Eric Bledsoe until they can officially lock up Paul long-term. Now that CP3 appears to be a lock to re-sign, L.A. may begin shopping Bledsoe in earnest. According to Kyler, there has been no shortage of suitors with offers for the young point guard.
Sources tell Kyler that the team isn't worried about bringing back DeAndre Jordan after he was at the center of trade rumors, feeling that Rivers will be able to mend that fence. However, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (via Twitter), there's still a belief that Jordan will be moved. It may not happen right away though, as the Clippers take time to consider their options.

Latest On Celtics/Clippers Talks

June 22nd, 2013 at 1:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

Yesterday we heard that the Celtics/Clippers deal involving Doc Rivers was dead, only to later come across reports that such trade talks would continue. More continues to come in about the on-again, off-again saga, much of it courtesy Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald and Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. Here’s what we know:

A source tells Murphy that the deal is dead, despite insistence from the Clippers camp that it will be revived. Discussion about a Kevin Garnett-for-DeAndre Jordan trade is probably dead as well, Murphy writes.
Rivers is still in contact with Danny Ainge and deliberating over whether he’ll return to Boston for next season, and the decision is not necessarily tied to whether the Celtics will rebuild, Murphy says.
The Celtics postponed Friday’s press conference with Rivers and Ainge until Monday because the Clippers wanted to discuss a deal again, according to Holmes.
Holmes hears that Rivers wants to continue coaching in the NBA, despite his well-documented misgivings about doing so with a rebuilding team. Yet sources tell Holmes that Rivers could wind up returning to broadcasting, where his salary would not match what he could get as a coach, because it might be too awkward to go back to the Boston bench at this point. Even so, Celtics management maintains that they would welcome him back.
As Holmes points out, the Clippers were prepared to give up a first-round pick for Rivers earlier this week when it appeared there was a second, separate deal involving Garnett. Now that the two sides have pushed the Garnett talk to the backburner under pressure from the league, the Clippers only seem willing to relinquish a second-rounder for Rivers.
Holmes hears from sources who believe the Clippers never intended to pull of a deal with the C’s, and were merely trying to make it seem as though they were to appease Chris Paul.
A source tells Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com that Rivers and Rajon Rondo had a locker-room altercation that nearly turned into a physical confrontation. “An intense dislike” for Rondo is part of Rivers’ motivation for leaving the Celtics, Sheridan writes. Rich Levine of CSNNE.com tweets his doubts that such an incident took place, and believes that if it did, it may have happened as far back as 2010.
In a separate piece, Holmes notes that Celtics assistant coach Mike Longabardi has accepted a position on Jeff Hornacek‘s coaching staff with the Suns. He’s the only Celtics assistant to have depared the team this offseason.

Latest On Clippers/Celtics Negotiations

June 21st, 2013 at 3:22pm CST by Luke Adams

3:22pm: The Celtics and Rivers' camp are "rapidly" coming to believe that no deal is going to be reached with the Clippers, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

2:59pm: Although the Clippers raised the idea of sending Boston a second-round pick as compensation for Rivers, the Celtics are holding out for a first-rounder, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. That would suggest that perhaps the 2015 first-rounder mentioned below hasn't officially been put on the table yet. According to Wojnarowski, the two sides aren't making much progress at this point.

12:47pm: The ongoing saga involving the Clippers, the Celtics, Doc Rivers, and Kevin Garnett took another odd twist this morning, when the Celtics sent out a press release announcing that Rivers and GM Danny Ainge would speak to the media today. Shortly after that announcement, the Celtics postponed the press conference until Monday, tentatively at noon eastern, according to Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com (via Twitter).

As Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe notes (via Twitter), the unusual move by the Celtics may have been designed to push the Clippers into action. The Clips had previously been unwilling to give up first-round draft picks as compensation for Rivers, but the threat of a press conference in Boston (perhaps to announce that Rivers would be returning) may have changed that, says Holmes.

Hall of Fame scribe Mark Heisler confirms as much, reporting (via Twitter) that the Clippers have now offered a protected 2015 first-round pick for Rivers. If the two sides can reach an agreement on compensation for Rivers, a Doc deal could be completed today, according to Heisler (Twitter link). However, he adds that the same can't be said for a trade involving Garnett. Due to CBA rules, the NBA has essentially insisted that Rivers and KG would have to be moved in separate, unrelated transactions.

To clarify that last point: Because NBA head coaches can't officially be traded, the Celtics aren't allowed to include Rivers in a Garnett deal. Instead, they'd have to release Rivers from his contract, allowing him to sign with the Clippers, making a potential KG/DeAndre Jordan swap an entirely separate transaction.

But the CBA also doesn't allow teams to make two separate moves that are contingent on one another, so the Clippers have shifted their focus to Rivers for now, in hopes of hiring him and then pursuing Garnett at a later date. If the Clips were to land Rivers and agree to acquire Garnett later, they'd have to convince the NBA that the two moves were made independently of one another.

For more details on how these negotiations have played out, check out our posts rounding up the updates from Wednesday and from Thursday.

Clippers Targeting Rivers First; KG, Pierce Later

June 20th, 2013 at 7:28pm CST by Luke Adams

7:28pm: Dan Woike of the OC Register tweets that Los Angeles isn't optimistic that the league will ever allow them to acquire both Garnett and Rivers.

7:10pm: ESPN's Ramona Shelburne tweets that the Clippers are in no rush to get something done, knowing that two of the three candidates they've interviewed will be available for a while.

7:00pm: Rivers is said to be growing frustrated by the lack of closure on the deal and could take himself out of it if things aren't resolved by tomorrow morning, writes Bulpett. Though another source tells Bulpett that process has come too far along to turn away now.

6:21pm: Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (via Twitter) says that there was no deal presented to the league today because the Clippers have yet to meet the Celtics' asking price.

4:43pm: According to Wojnarowski, the Celtics would just want one first-round pick as compensation for releasing Rivers from his contract. If the two sides eventually returned to talks involving Garnett, the Celtics would want another first-rounder along with Jordan, says Wojnarowski.

However, the Clippers still haven't extended an offer of compensation to Boston, and there's concern from people involved in the talks that L.A.'s front office doesn't have the authority to meet the Celtics' request. Clippers management had privately insisted to people they were waiting on Donald Sterling's approval for the draft-pick compensation.

4:07pm: Although the Clippers want to set aside the Garnett discussions for now, they haven't shown a willingness to offer even one first-round pick for the rights to Rivers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Wojnarowski adds that talks are going nowhere until the Clippers relent on at least one pick (Twitter links).

Since it was previously reported that the deal for Garnett and Rivers would include two first-rounders along with Jordan, this new information is a little confusing. Obviously, the Clippers wouldn't give up two first-round picks and Jordan for Garnett alone, so it had appeared the team was willing to give up a first-rounder or two for Rivers.

The equation has likely changed now for one of two reasons: If the Clippers reach an agreement for Doc first, there's no guarantee they'll be able to work out a separate deal for KG later, so the team may be unwilling to part with first-round picks for just a coach, rather than the duo as a package. The Clippers also may feel they've regained some leverage, since Stern's public comments today suggested the NBA was uneasy about attaching significant trade value to head coaches. Both of those theories are my own speculation though.

Clippers/Celtics Updates: Thursday

June 20th, 2013 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

3:12pm: The Clippers and Celtics haven't talked for several hours, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). However, Wojnarowski reports that the Clips would still like to get the deal done and are working on ways to satisfy the league's concerns.

1:00pm: Sam Amick of USA Today suggests that for the deal to be completed, one of two adjustments may have to be made. The Celtics may have to give up something more in the deal along with Garnett, most likely draft picks; or the Clippers may be able to give up slightly less.

According to Amick, the NBA believes that the "mere appearance that there is value being attached to Rivers" is not in accordance with the CBA, so it's Garnett's trade value that should be at the center of the discussion, rather than Rivers' value.

12:52pm: The league's primary concern with the proposed Celtics/Clippers deal is that the CBA doesn't allow coaches to be traded, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes. Breaking it up into two separate moves would still be frowned upon by the NBA, a source tells Turner, since the Clippers are trying to get Rivers more than anything else.

The league has told the two teams for "several days" that the deal as currently constructed isn't legitamite, so the two sides are working to come up with an alternate solution, according to Turner.

12:26pm: Appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio today (video link), commissioner David Stern confirmed that the NBA wants to ensure the Celtics and Clippers aren't violating the CBA by including a head coach in a trade or by making two separate deals that are contingent on one another.

"If we know that what the parties really wanted to do is one [deal] they're going to break into two for purposes of trying to avoid the restrictions that the Collective Bargaining Agreement places on it, we know how to deal with that," Stern said.

11:36am: Stein reports (via Twitter) that the Celtics and Clippers have begun discussing new trade scenarios in an attempt to satisfy the league's misgivings about the two deals.