Over the last few weeks, instead of the NBA universe being abuzz over next week’s underwhelming prospects for the 2013 NBA Draft, the biggest news coming out of the Association are some juicy rumors about the on again-off again talks between the Celtics and Clippers involving Kevin Garnett, DeAndre Jordan, and coach Doc Rivers.
Although the blockbuster trade was initially held up when the Clippers refused to give up promising PG Eric Bledsoe in the deal, as recently as Thursday the trade talks were restarted at the request of All Star point guard Chris Paul.
For the deal to go through, the first step would be if the Clippers can convince the Celtics to release Rivers from the still remaining 3 years and $21 million of his remaining contract.
Then, according to the NBA rulebook, the blockbuster trade would have to be two separate deals, one with Jordan being swapped for Garnett, and another with Boston receiving both future draft picks and financial compensation for coach Doc Rivers. A similar deal once went down in the NFL involving coach John Gruden going from the Raiders to the Buccaneers.
In the end, all deals must get final approval from the commissioner’s office, which sometimes can be a daunting task. Just ask Chris Paul, who thought he was going to join Kobe on the Lakers, before the impending deal sending CP3 to Lakerland was nixed by David Stern in December 2011.
According to a recent radio interview with commissioner Stern, the NBA offices are prepared to veto any trade involving coach Doc Rivers, specifically because the collective bargaining agreement prohibits it.
“The teams are aware that the collective bargaining agreement doesn’t authorize trades involving coaches’ contracts.”
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.
I would say that if we know that what the parties really want to do is one [trade and] they are going to break into two [trades] for purposes of trying to avoid the restrictions that the collective bargaining agreement places on it, we know how to deal with that as well”
Needless to say, it’s getting very interesting. While the trade would initially make the Clippers a contender, I’d argue that it actually hurts their long term plans, considering Garnett’s age and penchant for injuries.
David Stern On Clippers – Celtics Trade Talks:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
