Before Doc Rivers became entangled in the proposed deal that would send him to the Clippers, another team made a play to acquire his services.
A league source told Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski that the Denver Nuggets offered the Celtics a first-round pick in exchange for Rivers shortly after firing head coach George Karl.
Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke reportedly contacted Celtics general manager Danny Ainge with the offer around June 10, but Ainge and the Celtics had not yet began the process of moving Rivers, thus ending discussions between the two teams.
Denver has since interviewed Pacers assistant Brian Shaw and former Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins for the open position.
The Rivers-to-L.A. proposition has hit multiple snags over the last few days, with the teams seemingly unable to agree to terms. The deal has also drawn resistance from the NBA itself, which does not allow coaches to be traded in deals that involve players.
A report Thursday said that Rivers is growing restless through the ongoing negotiations and may pull himself out of consideration if a deal cannot be reached by Friday morning.
