Report: Doc Rivers Deal Not Yet Approved, Contract Negotiations Still Ongoing
By Josh Hill
The Boston Celtics have moved on from the Doc Rivers era in their team’s history but the Clippers haven’t yet started theirs. While the NBA has not approved the trade that will send Rivers to Los Angeles in exchange for a first-round draft pick and nothing has been signed on Rivers end when it comes to a contract as the process is currently being held up.
"The official completion of the deal that will send Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers is being delayed because Rivers and his representatives are still negotiating the language in the coach’s new contract, league sources told ESPNBoston.com’s Jackie MacMullan."
It’s looking like this deal will eventually get approved and happen. But let’s not forget that Rivers may not really want to coach in Los Angeles and may end up asking for more money from the Clippers. He said back when the first trade talks broke down that he didn’t want to coach the Clippers anymore and while that was likely just a tactic, it could come into play.
The NBA is likely just twiddling it’s thumbs so it can be the last voice heard in this deal, but ESPN admittedly made a mistake when they jumped the gun on reports that David Stern and the league had approved the deal — which it hasn’t.
"The NBA has not approved the deal yet, but the league also is not holding up the completion of the transaction, a league source told MacMullan. ESPN incorrectly reported earlier Monday that the league already had approved the deal."
So just when we thought this whole conversation was over, all parties involved are right back in the spotlight and the drama is apparently still dragging on. There’s not much left to it, as the two sides have agreed on the deal and Rivers is wanting to coach the Clippers enough that he’s been talking about it and seems generally excited.
But this is truly a scenario where it won’t be totally over until it’s completely over and that isn’t just yet the case.