Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers recently claimed that the Boston media had "made up" the rumors that power forward Blake Griffin is going to be traded to the Celtics.
Talking to reporters in a recent interview, the 54-year-old one-time NBA champion coach told reporters that there never were trade negotiations between the Clippers and Celtics involving Griffin. He also joked that the "Boston media likely made them up", as per CBS Sports.
Griffin had been one of the most mentioned NBA superstars in trade rumors ever since Rivers admitted last year that he is ready to break up the Big Three of Griffin, Chris Paul, and DeAndre Jordan if he felt that the Clippers need a complete rebuilding.
Another reason why the 27-year-old five-time NBA All-Star is being thrown in trade rumors is the punching incident he had with a team equipment manager that broke his hand, causing him to miss crucial games in the middle of last season. The Clippers were said to be "sternly critical" of Griffin at that time and so speculations went out that he could be traded before last February's deadline, which eventually did not happen.
The trade rumors persist today and Griffin was predominantly linked to the Celtics, Rivers' team before joining the Clippers where he won his only NBA title to date in 2008.
However, Rivers put all the rumors to rest when he publicly said that there is no truth about the Griffin-to-Celtics speculations.
"The rumors are so bogus," said Rivers, via Amico Hoops. "That's the problem. If the rumors had any truth to them, it would be hard to go to your player and say that there is no truth to them. Because I will never lie."
"We figured that was one of you (media) guys starting it here in Boston," he quipped.
However, this does not mean that the possibility of Griffin getting traded is now already zero. The high-flying power forward is entering the fourth year of his five-year, $94.5 million deal with the Clips and he can opt out of it next summer if he chooses to become an unrestricted free agent and test the market.
With this in mind, the Clippers may consider trading him before that time comes should the club feels that Griffin is intending to switch squads and leave them with nothing.
