The Los Angeles Clippers have enjoyed a breakout 2012/13 season, with a 39-17 record which is good enough for the West's third seed at the All-Star Break. Teams with such good records typically aren't as active around the trade deadline as the Clippers seem to be, but the Clippers aren't a typical team.
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Rumors have linked the Clippers to Boston Celtics big man Kevin Garnett, but L.A.'s chances of acquiring the future Hall-of-Famer are slim. The biggest obstacle, naturally, is Garnett's no-trade clause. The veteran can veto any trade. "If it's up to me, I will live and die green all day," Garnett said during All-Star Weekend, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo!
A separate Yahoo! report, this one from Adrian Wojnarowski, on Sunday indicated that the Clips are using All-Star point guard Chris Paul to guide their decision-making with regard to building the team:
"If Chris wants Vinny [Del Negro], he'll be the coach," one source tied to the Clippers and Paul said. "If Chris wants [Kevin Garnett], they'll push harder for it."
Paul earned MVP honors in the All-Star Game on Sunday and is due to be a free agent in July, but Wojnarowski reports that he intends to re-sign with the Clippers.
Gary Sacks, the Clippers' vice president of basketball operations, told the Orange County Register that his team is "listening" to trade offers. "But we love our team. If there’s something out there that makes us better, we’ll do it."
At SBNation.com, Tom Ziller broke down what Garnett could bring to the Clippers if L.A. managed to acquire him. "Few realistic trades would be more helpful than this one," he says.
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 12 p.m. Pacific.