The Boston Celtics have no idea if a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers that will send head coach Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett to L.A., will get done. The two sides have been talking and then calling off negotiations and then resuming them once again.While the team is not sure which pieces of the team are leaving and which are coming in, they are sure who is on the short list of coaches and who is not. The Celtics have no plans on replacing Rivers with former Clippers coach, Vinny Del Negro.
Just because the Celtics might be sending their head coach to Los Angeles does not mean they want the team's rejects. When trade rumors first surfaced between the two teams, Del Negro's name was the first to be mentioned. Boston could get the head coach at a relatively low price since interest is low. However, if a deal is complete, the Celtics would get DeAndre Jordon, complicating the coaching search.
Jordan and Del Negro do not get along. The coach's relationships with the players played a large part in his release. During the 2013 season, Del Negro was very vocal about his displeasure with Jordan's play abilities. He told media that the big man needed to step his game up.
A likely candidate to replace Rivers will be Brian Shaw. The young assistant has been the center of multiple coaching searches after spending time under Phil Jackson and helping bring success to the Indiana Pacers. He is one of the hottest names on the market. He was passed up by the Brooklyn Nets in favor of Jason Kid, but that has not stopped other teams like the Denver Nuggets from keeping a close eye on him. Other possible candidates ruled out of the search are Jeff and Stan Van Gundy. The Celtics will not fork over the money for Stan and Jeff has said he is not looking to get back into coaching.
The jury is still out on whether or not the Celtics and Clippers will make the trade happen. Yahoo! Sports reports that Chris Paul is pushing for the trade to happen. If the Clippers can pull this off, Paul is almost guaranteed to re-sign with the team. Paul like the idea of Rivers and Garnett and he believes that Paul Pierce could find his way to the Clippers in a buyout scenario. If this does not happen, Paul could be hitting the open market with plans not including the Clippers.
