The reason the Clippers have done as well as they have in getting Boston to back off from demands such as getting Eric Bledsoe in the deal or having the Clippers take back a bad contract is because they've treated the deal all along as something they don't need. They have other options they like to coach the team, they can trade their resources for other players. So on a couple of occasions they've walked away saying "Thanks but no thanks." The problem is, you have to mean it. It's a great bargaining tactic if you mean it. But meaning it may eventually entail passing on the deal. The ball is in the Celtics court; we'll see if the deal is really "dead, dead, dead." It will be dead when the Clippers hire another coach, and with Shaw coming in tomorrow, there's at least another day.

If the Celtics and Clippers cannot work something out between the two parties, another option might be to try to make this complex deal even more complicated. Like for instance, by including a third team into the mix. A team like the Magic or Pacers or perhaps even the Rockets or Mavericks or a team I haven't thought of yet.