Just when people thought the deal was dead! After Chris Paul pushed the Clippers to resume talks with the Celtics on the Rivers-Garnett deal – it looks like the Blockbuster deal could happen today. According to sources, the Clippers are just waiting on one thing. *Now, this may not happen — THERE IS AN UPDATE AFTER THE JUMP*
Via PBT:
If Clippers owner Donald Sterling signs off on it this deal could come together Thursday reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
After superstar Chris Paul injected his influence to accelerate talks, the Los Angeles Clippers are searching for ownership approval to complete a blockbuster deal to bring Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and forward Kevin Garnettto L.A., league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Clippers management planned to huddle with owner Donald Sterling on Wednesday night in Los Angeles to get his approval and move on Thursday to finalize an agreement with the Celtics, sources said. Sterling met with Clippers coaching candidate Brian Shaw, an Indiana Pacers assistant coach, on Wednesday night.
The deal would bring Kevin Garnett and the right to sign coach Doc Rivers to the Clippers in exchange for DeAndre Jordan and two first round picks, according to multiple reports. The picks are essentially compensation for Rivers, who would walk away from the three remaining years on his Celtics contract to sign a five-year, $35 million deal with the Clippers (technically coaches cannot be traded so this is the workaround).
(Story Continues…)
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UPDATE via BTB:
The NBA reportedly won’t allow the Clippers and Celtics to go through with the deal that would send Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers to the Clippers for DeAndre Jordan 2 first-round draft picks because it goes against the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
According to CBS Sports:
The Celtics and Clippers were informed days ago that such an arrangement is not permitted under league trade rules, even if the deals were separated into two distinct transactions, a league source told CBSSports.com on Thursday.
[…]
In a radio tour in the hours before Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, commissioner David Stern appeared on several programs in an effort to put this saga out of its misery. His strongest comments came on ESPN Radio in New York, where Stern said, “The teams are aware that the collective bargaining agreement doesn’t authorize trades involving coaches’ contracts.”
