The resurrected Clippers-Celtics deal has been put back in the morgue by the league.
According to a CBSSports report, both teams were informed days ago the deal sending coach Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett to the Clippers for DeAndre Jordan and draft picks will not be approved by the league. The issue is that coaches are not allowed to be included in trades, one most assumed could be circumvented by making it a separate transaction.
But commissioner David Stern does not seem keen on letting the deal go through with a loophole.
“The teams know that,” Stern said in an interview on ESPN Radio. “It has been confirmed to them. … It can’t be gotten around by breaking it up into two transactions.”
Yahoo Sports is reporting the teams still are looking for ways to satisfy the league, but if Stern’s words are any indication, it seems unlikely. The deal has been talked about for several days now and it has been assumed that Rivers, a favorite of Clippers star Chris Paul, is one of the keys to the deal.
“If you think those, at this point — having been all over the media for the last week — are separate transactions. … I have a bridge that I would very much enjoy selling to you,” Stern said.
According to ESPN.com, the Clippers new strategy is to pursue Rivers first.