The catch was that Garnett repeatedly refused to waive his no-trade clause, insisting that he came back to the NBA only to play for the Celtics, and that he planned to retire in Boston. Reports now show that his stance stood firm even as the Clippers went to even greater lengths to try to acquire him. Chris Paul had the ear of Clippers management and told Garnett he could make the deal happen if Garnett wanted the trade, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports. But Garnett turned down the extra attention from Paul, and the Celtics moved neither Garnett nor mainstay Paul Pierce before the deadline. While earlier reports have indicated that Paul was involved in bending management’s ear in Los Angeles, it’s another issue entirely that the All-Star point guard made a direct plea to Garnett. In the end, though, he heard what everybody has heard in recent days: Garnett will be staying with the Celtics.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2013/02/report-kevin-garnett-told-by-chris-paul-that-he-could-make-trade-to-clippers-happen-but-garnett-said-no/

In trying to move J Smith, ATL called LAC and asked about Bledsoe. Short conversation. Clips not really interested in trading for Smith.

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) February 19, 2013

But what determines whether such a trade would be worth it for the Clippers depends on how much the Ticket can improve L.A. within the next couple of years.

Right now, the Clippers are No. 3 in the West. They trail San Antonio by four games and the Thunder by 1.5 games. A path to the Finals would almost certainly go through Oklahoma City at some point, and also possibly through S.A. To beat either team will require not just the strong offense we’ve come to expect from Chris Paul’s teams, but really good defense. OKC and S.A. are No. 1 and No. 5 in offense in the NBA, respectively. Any defense would be tested when facing that. In particular, the Thunder have the best offense since the 2009-10 Suns. It’s a powerful beast led by the most aggressive creator in the league (Russell Westbrook) and the purest scorer of his generation (Kevin Durant). Even great defense have real trouble slowing the Thunder. And many would hesitate to call L.A.’s defense great. That’s where K.G. comes in.

http://www.sbnation.com/2013/2/18/4000514/kevin-garnett-clippers-nba-trade-rumors-2013-analysis

Saturday, a report from Yahoo Sports had the Clippers in talks with Boston for All-Star Kevin Garnett, and Sunday, an ESPN report tied the Clippers to the Utah Jazz in a deal that would send out Eric Bledsoe as part of a package that would net Paul Millsap in return.

Millsap, who is averaging more than 15 points and 7 rebounds a game, is a free agent after this season.

The NBA’s trade deadline is Thursday at noon.

Vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks was at Sunday’s game in Houston, and he’s well aware of the rumors surrounding his team.

“We’re listening,” he said. “But we love our team. If there’s something out there that makes us better, we’ll do it.”

According to sources, the Clippers aren’t in any advanced trade discussions at this time, but the team could be aggressive at the deadline.

The Clippers entered the All-Star break on a four-game winning streak after getting Chauncey Billups back into the lineup. If the team doesn’t find a suitable deal, the Clippers would be comfortable standing pat because of the versatility of the current roster provided by the team’s depth.

http://www.ocregister.com/sports/clippers-496262-trying-houston.html

http://withleather.uproxx.com/2010/06/geffen-i-can-deliver-lebron-james

A source close to the situation confirmed a New York Post report that
Geffen is interested in purchasing a majority share of the Clippers —
and that the long-shot attempt to convince Sterling to cede operating
control of the team is among the reasons James and close friend Maverick
Carter were in Los Angeles over the weekend.

The team is known to be preparing a bid for LeBron James, among others.

The Clippers are declining comment on the search for a replacement for
Mike Dunleavy, who resigned Feb. 4 to focus solely on front-office
duties and then was fired as GM. The team decided not to offer the
coaching job to Kim Hughes, who took over for Dunleavy and coached the
Clippers through the rest of the season.

League insiders attending the pre-Draft camp here said the Clippers are prepared to wait until July to name a head coach if they feel the decision can be used as part of an intriguing, if unusual, offer to their top target.

The Clippers can make a credible offer to any free agent. They will have approximately $17 million in cap space, a requisite if James is the main target, as many believe him to be. Plus, the Clippers’ biggest hole seems to be at small forward, one of the positions James can easily fill.

They can surround James, or whoever, with All-Star Chris Kaman at center, Blake Griffin at power forward (as the No. 1 pick of the 2009 Draft works back from a knee injury), Eric Gordon at shooting guard and Baron Davis at point guard, along with the eighth pick in the June 24 Draft. The marketing possibilities of Los Angeles also would be part of the recruiting pitch.

The Bulls also have a coaching opening and are expected to pursue James, among others, as well.

"There might be a couple of teams that decide to wait until after free agency begins to hire their next coach," one executive said, noting how the openings could be used to attract a mega-star such as James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and probably Amar’e Stoudemire.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/scott_howard_cooper/05/21/clips.coach/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

The first name that came to mind after the Clippers’ rude and
unceremonious news release came out Tuesday night announcing Mike
Dunleavy’s firing was none other than Jerry West. The Logo had been
long rumored to be a candidate to take over the Clippers’ woebegone
basketball operations if — and, as it turned out, when — they finally
"severed ties" with Dunleavy.

From West himself Tuesday night: Not gonna happen.

"No contact, no interest, not looking to work anymore," West said by telephone after the Dunleavy news broke. "Time for someone younger to have an opportunity to do something. I have not been contacted, nor would I have any interest."

But West, who was at the center of speculation to take over the Knicks’ basketball operations when Isiah Thomas was deposed two years ago, left the door open ever so slightly to returning to a front office in some capacity.

"Unless there was something that was along the lines of a consultant job — a working consultant," West said. "I don’t want a title or need a title. It was fun to be involved. It’s a tough business. But I’m not looking for a job nor am I putting my name out there for any job. I’ve always felt we all have a lifespan with what we’re doing. Mine has been served."

West, 71, left the Memphis Grizzlies after his contract expired in 2007 and hasn’t been involved in running a team since. The architect of two Lakers dynasties is forever linked with job openings, though. Another credible Jerry — Colangelo — would be high on any serious team’s list of candidates. During All-Star weekend in Dallas, Colangelo tried to tamp down speculation that he was in the running to take over the Nets — but also said if a team called, he’d listen.

Meantime, with another important draft and the biggest free-agent class in NBA history looming, the Clippers had better hope the promotion of assistant GM Neil Olshey works out. After reading the Clippers’ brutally worded news release on Dunleavy’s dismissal — and knowing the organization’s track record for losing and cheapness — what credible candidate would want to work there?

"The team has simply not made sufficient progress during Dunleavy’s seven-year tenure," the news rocket said. "The Clippers want to win now."

And for the past quarter century, too, right?

The irony is that buried somewhere in all that dysfunction is a fairly promising roster and cap flexibility. Clippers fans can look forward to Blake Griffin’s return in 2011-12, and Dunleavy left Donald Sterling enough cap space to get a marquee free agent if anybody wants to go.

http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/20389780?source=rss_blogs_NBA

The Clippers have maintained internally that Camby’s $9,150,000 million
expiring contract is the most attractive expiring contract in the
league because the 35-year-old is still so effective and because so
many contending teams — such as Dallas, San Antonio, Denver and
Portland — have either chased him hard in the past or want another big
man for the postseason.

The Clips, though, have resisted all trade interest in Camby to date — most recently from Washington and a potential Caron Butler-for-Camby swap — in part because they wanted to get a firm read on the timetable for Griffin’s comeback as well a look at Griffin and Camby playing together before making such a big decision. So much for the latter luxury.

One source with knowledge of the Clippers’ thinking said Wednesday that knowing now that Griffin is not coming back this season makes it more likely that L.A. keeps Camby for the rest of the season to continue his frontcourt partnership with Chris Kaman and rely on Camby to fill the Griffin void.

Yet you can be sure that teams will keep calling the Clips to test their determination to keep Camby . . . just like last season. It emerged after the deadline passed last February that both Portland and San Antonio engaged in serious Camby talks with the Clips on deadline day before L.A. ultimately walked away from both offers.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/12281/clips-camby-decision-just-got-tougher

In the last year of a contract worth $9.1 million, Camby goes into tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs ranked fifth in the league in blocks (2.1 per game) and sixth in rebounding (11.0 per game).

"Marcus has been great," Dunleavy said. "We have a lot of guys that have a lot of interest from a lot of people."

As for the rest of the Clippers’ roster, Dunleavy said the team has no immediate needs beyond forward Blake Griffin fully recovering from a stress fracture in his left knee that has kept him out for all 21 games.

Camby avoided interviews after Saturday’s practice but said earlier in the week that extra stretching, conditioning and effort have helped him average double digits in rebounds for the last seven seasons.

"We have a lot of guys capable of scoring," said Camby, who averages 8.4 points per game. "We need guys who go out there and do the little things to balance out our team. That’s what I try to focus on."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-clippers-fyi13-2009dec13,0,1043982.story