Report: Nuggets offered draft pick for Doc Rivers, will settle for Lionel Hollins or Brian Shaw

Haven’t experienced enough twists with the Doc Rivers saga? Well you’re in luck.

The NBA’s latest soap opera has a new guest star: the Nuggets.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

Shortly after firing George Karl, the Denver Nuggets offered the Boston Celtics a first-round draft pick as compensation to pry coach Doc Rivers out of his contract, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke made a bid for Rivers approximately 10 days ago, informing general manager Danny Ainge of his willingness to part with a pick if the Nuggets were able to procure Rivers.Nevertheless, Boston wasn’t prepared to start the process of letting Rivers leave and discussions never went beyond one brief conversation between Kroenke and Ainge, league sources said.

I wonder whether Ainge regrets not exploring this offer at the time. Like all teams coming off a successful run and considering rebuilding, the Celtics are looking at trading the assets that won’t be around during the next window of contention in exchange for younger and cheaper pieces. The Celtics are a little different, though, because they’re also in position to gain helpful players and/or picks in exchange for their coach.But if David Stern blocks an arrangement with the Clippers, Boston could be left getting no return for Rivers.Unfortunately for the Celtics, it sounds like it’s too late to run back to the Nuggets – even if Denver clears the necessary step of being a desirable destination to Rivers – because the Nuggets have gone a different route. Wojnarowski:

Denver quickly moved onto its current two finalists for the job: Lionel Hollins and Brian Shaw. Both candidates made strong impressions on Kroenke and new Denver GM Tim Connelly in interviews this week, sources said.

Hollins and Shaw are both good candidates, and although Rivers might have the edge in coaching ability, I don’t believe Rivers is a first-round pick better. Why give up a valuable draft choice just to get a coach who might be better and would definitely cost a lot more?Actually, there is one answer to that question: Chris Paul. The Clippers can wisely make moves that appear foolish in a vacuum if it means re-signing Paul. They, like any team would be, are just that desperate to please their free agent superstar.And that’s why it’s in the Celtics’ best interest to find some deal that works for Los Angeles and Stern. Otherwise, they’re not getting any return for Rivers.