The Los Angeles Clippers were unable to close a deal the NBA would approve to bring in Doc Rivers as their head coach and free agent guard Chris Paul isn't happy about how the situation played out, according to reports.
Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the on-again-off-again negotiations between the Clippers and Celtics, which Paul hoped would put his choice for coach in place for a return to the Clippers, left the Clips' top offseason priority upset with the process.
Free-agent star Chris Paul pushed the Clippers to hire Rivers as coach, but will have to settle for Lionel Hollins, Brian Shaw or Byron Scott if he plans to re-sign with Los Angeles in July. Paul is unhappy with the fallout over the failed deal, sources told Yahoo! Sports on Friday night.
Seems natural that Paul wouldn't be happy if a deal to land his hand-picked coach fell through, but will it be enough to have CP3 looking elsewhere on the free agent market? Paul likely wasn't happy to have his name surface in reports about trying to influence the deal for Rivers, just as he didn't appreciate his name tied to reports about Vinny Del Negro's firing.
The Clippers still hold the key bargaining chip with Paul in their ability to offer him a five-year contract for around $108 million. The max deal exceeds offers other teams can make by $28 million. That would be a lot of money to leave on the table to find a new situation with a team lacking the talent the Clippers can put around Paul.
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