LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics called off a blockbuster deal Tuesday that centered around Coach Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett coming to Los Angeles.
The final sticking point that stopped the deal was Danny Ainge, the Boston president of basketball operations, insisting that Clippers give the Celtics two No. 1 draft picks along with DeAndre Jordan, said league officials who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The Clippers were prepared to trade Jordan and one No. 1 pick for the rights to negotiate with Rivers and to acquire Garnett, but refused to add another first-round pick.
The Clippers and Celtics started talks again early Tuesday, knowing that Eric Bledsoe wasn’t going to be in the deal, but were still unable to make a connection.
The Clippers now move on to having more conversations with Byron Scott and Brian Shaw.
Scott, who interviewed for the Clippers’ coaching vacancy last week, met for the first time with the owner, Donald Sterling.
Scott, who coached Chris Paul when both were with the New Orleans Hornets, is the former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Hornets and New Jersey Nets.
Shaw, the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers, also interviewed with the Clippers last week. Shaw, who was in Denver interviewing for the Nuggets’ job, will meet Wednesday with Sterling.
Lionel Hollins, the former Memphis Grizzlies coach who will interview Wednesday for Denver’s job, remains in the mix with the Clippers. Hollins interviewed last week with the Clippers and met with Sterling.
The Clippers hope to name a coach this week to replace Vinny Del Negro.
BUCKS: Monta Ellis informed the team he won’t exercise his $11 million option for the upcoming season, making him an unrestricted free agent July 1. The move wasn’t a total surprise, coming after Ellis rejected a two-year contract extension last fall.
There’s a chance the Bucks also could lose their second-leading scorer.
Brandon Jennings, who combined with Ellis to contribute almost 37 percent of Milwaukee’s points, is a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Bucks have the right to match any offer for him. J.J. Redick, traded to Milwaukee from Orlando in February, also is a free agent.
“Obviously, with the three guys you’ve got three pretty good ballplayers,” new coach Larry Drew said earlier this month.
Ellis led the Bucks with 19.2 points and 37.5 minutes last season, his first full season in Milwaukee. He and Ekpe Udoh came to the Bucks from Golden State at the trade deadline in 2012 in exchange for the oft-injured Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson.
But the Bucks have known losing Ellis — or all of their guards — was a possibility and already have begun to adapt.
Milwaukee has a pair of promising big men in Larry Sanders and John Henson, and Drew has indicated the two will be the cornerstone of his team. Sanders made huge strides in his third season, more than doubling his scoring average (9.8 points) and grabbing more rebounds (672) than he had in his first two years combined. Henson, a rookie, showed his potential with a monster game April 10 in Orlando, flirting with a triple-double with 25 rebounds, 17 points and seven blocks.
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