Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers apparently won’t have Hollywood endings to their careers.
After days of trade talks in which the Clippers tried to acquire the Celtics head coach and power forward in a mega-deal, trade talks broke down on Tuesday, with Celtics President Danny Ainge telling the Boston Globe that the deal is dead, although he said he hopes Rivers will be the Celtics coach next season.
“He has been told that all along,” Ainge told the Globe.
Rivers led the Celtics to the NBA title in 2008 and the Finals in 2010 but they stumbled to a 41-40 record in 2013 with an aging roster and suffered a first-round loss to the Knicks. With the uncertainty of the core of the roster – Garnett, Paul Pierece and Rajon Rondo – Rivers has been looking into more attractive coaching jobs despite having three years and $21 million remaining on his current deal.
Yahoo Sports reports that Rivers is unsure of his future with the Celtics, who could be facing a rebuilding process with Garnett and Paul Pierce reaching the end of their playing careers.
“You don’t just move on from this and act like nothing happened,” one source close to Boston management told the website.
The Clippers, who have a coaching vacancy after firing Vinny Del Negro after the season were interested in Rivers and Garnett, who has two years and $24 million remaining on his deal. The Celtics wanted the deal to include point guard Eric Bledsoe, who backs up Chris Paul, but when that didn’t work, Boston set its sights on center DeAndre Jordan, whom the Clippers were also reluctant to part with.
The latest deal offered by the Celtics was Kevin Garnett and Rivers for two first round draft picks along with Jordan. Boston was also trying to shed several big contracts in any deal, having offered Jason Terry and Courtney Lee, who are both owed over $10 million for the next two seasons combined, while the Clippers wanted to move Caron Butler and his $8 million salary.
With Rivers now out of the coaching mix, the Clippers have scheduled interviews with former Nets coach Byron Scott on Tuesday and Brian Shaw on Wednesday. They also interviewed former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins and hope to have a coach hired by next week.