With trade talks between the Clippers and Celtics having broken down once again, both sides appear ready to move forward — though to where, exactly, is unclear.
After the two sides spent the last several days hashing out various trade proposals to bring both coach Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett across the country to Los Angeles, it had appeared the two sides were nearing completion of the much-discussed transaction.
But after the Clippers offered center DeAndre Jordan and one first-round pick, the Celtics wouldn’t budge off of their preference of a second first-round selection in the deal after already giving up on acquiring young point guard Eric Bledsoe — or sending either Jason Terry’s or Courtney Lee’s contract to the Clippers with Rivers and Garnett. From there, the talks broke down and were eventually declared “dead,” first reported by the Los Angeles Times Tuesday.
For the Clippers, that meant heading back to looking at coaching candidates to replace Vinny Del Negro. With their focus still firmly on ensuring Chris Paul re-signs with them as a free agent this summer, the Clippers are expected to wind up with Byron Scott, Lionel Hollins or Brian Shaw, runner-up to Jason Kidd for the Nets job.
Things for the Celtics, however, are much more complicated. The team has said it would love to have Rivers come back — even after these extended talks concerning him leaving. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge reiterated that in an interview with the Boston Globe yesterday.
But whether Rivers wants to return to the sidelines in Boston is just where the issues begin for Ainge, who now also has to figure out what will happen with both Garnett and Paul Pierce, as it appears the Celtics could be headed into a full rebuilding phase six years after Ainge put together the Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen in the summer of 2007.
Garnett, 37, has two more years and $24 million left on his contract, and is also armed with a no-trade clause — one he was almost certainly willing to waive to play for the Clippers, given the fact he owns a home in Malibu and would have been playing for Rivers.
The Pierce situation, though, is more complicated. He has spent his entire career to this point in Celtics green, but can be bought out of the final year of his contract — worth $15 million — for $5 million by June 30.
tbontemps@nypost.com