The Clips-Celtics won’t be getting deal done tonight for Doc, KG to LA. Sources said talks that resumed today resume tomorow morning.

— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 20, 2013

Source: C’s situation w/Doc “delicate.” If someone on Bruins telecast explains what that means I’ll pass it on. Otherwise…

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) June 20, 2013

That second tweet from Bulpett remains puzzling. What exactly could he mean by it?

There are a couple reasons the C’s could be back negotiating with the Clippers, even though the demands for a trade according to Marc Stein of  ESPN.com remain similar (and quite lackluster) from Boston in the form of two first round picks and DeAndre Jordan for KG and Doc Rivers.

One source close to the process expressed optimism the sides would reach an agreement in principle by Thursday on the two deals involving Garnett and Rivers, which the Clippers believe will all but cement the signature of star guard Chris Paul when Paul becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Although sources stressed that final details were still being worked out, one trade would be a straight player swap sending Clippers center DeAndre Jordan for Garnett, with the second move calling for Boston to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation for freeing Rivers from his Celtics contract.

However, ESPN.com has learned the teams will have at least one more hurdle to clear even if they finally agree to a trade framework after days of talks and multiple breakdowns in discussions.

Sources say the Clippers and Celtics, to push the trade through, will have to convince the league office that the deals were not contingent upon each other. According to NBA rules, side agreements or contingencies are prohibited in any trade or free-agent signing. Rules also prohibit coaches from being traded; teams can convey cash or draft picks as compensation to get a coach under contract released from those obligations.

For some additional analysis on the latest events, and what it will take to get the job done, Rich Keefe and I got together for another podcast this evening to sort out our thoughts.

The Celtics and Clippers have started talks again on the Doc Rivers-Kevin Garnett deal, league sources tell Y! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 19, 2013

The Clippers reached out to the Celtics this afternoon to resume dialogue on a possible deal, league sources tell Y! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 19, 2013

CH’s Analysis: A few things we can take out of this, on the same afternoon that Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge planned to meet to discuss Doc’s future with the C’s

First things first. Danny Ainge isn’t crawling back to the table here. That’s a good thing, because the Clippers final offer for KG and Doc was pathetic in the form of DeAndre Jordan and a 1st round pick. Ainge knows when all things are considered here, he is holding the most leverage, since the Clippers need to do everything they can do appease Chris Paul to get him to re-sign. Was he not happy with LAC coming up empty in the first round of trade talks, giving him cold feet about re-signing?Were Clippers executives less than thrilled after another round of coaching interviews today? We’ll likely find out soon.

On the C’s side of things, while there is still no word on what came out of the Ainge/Rivers meeting today yet, you know Ainge has his door open to listen to almost any trade. So if the Clippers come back to the table, it means he’s going to listen and try to get value. Still doesn’t mean he’s desperate to deal, or resigned to losing Doc for the season.

All we know, is Doc and KG heading to the Clippers is still an attractive scenario for the two of them, and if it becomes an attractive scenario for the C’s too in terms of assets received, it could still happen.

We’ll have plenty more on this over the course of the evening. In the meantime, here’s a refresher on the potential trade offers the two teams are likely going through as we speak.

You can check out all of those possible scenarios BY CLICKING HERE

According to a league source, Rivers hopes after that discussion to make his first public comments regarding his future since saying on May 3rd that he was uncertain if he would be on the Celtic bench for the 2013-14 season.

“I am meeting with Doc tomorrow,” Ainge confirmed to the Herald. “He’s coming to town. He was coming to town before the events of today, so we were planning on meeting tomorrow anyway.”

“I don’t know if anything will be decided tomorrow or if anything will be resolved,” said Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations. “I just know that I’m meeting with him.”

Ainge did speak with Rivers by phone today after the Clippers pulled away from the trade talks and both teams had proclaimed the negotiations done. “It went good,” Ainge said of that conversation.

He was less certain when asked where Rivers now stands on his career. “I don’t know,” Ainge said. “I don’t know. I’ll wait for him to decide that.”

So what can we take out of this report, as far as Rivers’ direct future is concerned. Less than you might think.

Part of me thinks on the small but still legitimate possibility that Rivers comes back here, if he has assurances Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce will be back as well. I’m not sure if Ainge is willing to give into that declaration at this point, but perhaps after exploring the trade market for both players in the past couple weeks, he may be willing to be leaning towards holding onto them, with such lackluster returns out there.

Knowing Ainge, I just can’t see him taking anything off the table, and Rivers needs to be willing to live with that if he wants to pull a mea culpa and return to the team. Can he pull it off without having egg on his face? I think so, since his first choice was probably always to be in Boston with Pierce and Garnett and many C’s fans can respect that. If he wanted out no matter what happened to those guys (and still wants out), that’s an entirely different scenario and there’s no doubt he will be judged appropriately.

All in all, little has changed for the C’s. Big decisions still remain in place in the upcoming two weeks, but now time is running short to make them. There are no deadlines for today though. Doc may very well meet with Danny and still have to think about things again, as crazy as that sounds. He’s given no indication that a final decision will be reached today on his future, because there’s no way Ainge probably knows whether Pierce/KG are done in Boston or not. It’s all very fluid and that’s what makes it all very complicated.

However it pans out, we’ll probably get a sense of what direction things are heading in. A team usually wants to know who it’s head coach will be prior to an NBA Draft. We’re only eight days away from that.

Thus, the saga continues.

Unlike Saturday when both sides have reached an impasse, this time it looks to be more than posturing, as Danny Ainge told Baxter Holmes of  The Boston Globe today:

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed to the Globe that the proposed Celtics-Clippers blockbuster deal that would have sent both Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett to the Clippers is, in fact, “dead.”

Making matters even more interesting? Ainge still wants Rivers back as head coach, despite all the speculation. What does Doc have to say about all of it?

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports fills up in on that part of the story:

After talks in a blockbuster deal fell apart over draft pick compensation, Doc Rivers is unsure about returning to the Boston Celtics as coach, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday.

The Celtics have told Doc Rivers they would still like him to return as coach. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge informed Rivers of the failed trade talks on Tuesday morning, and reiterated the Celtics’ desire to have him return and fulfill the final three years and $21 million left on his contract, sources said.

Rivers will travel to Boston on Wednesday and discuss his future with Ainge. The Celtics and Rivers plan to reach a final resolution in the next few days, sources said.

CH’s Analysis: So we are back at square one at this point. Ainge made the right move thankfully, and walked away from an inferior offer from the Clippers. They might call back, but they probably won’t because let’s face it, they’re the Clippers. Unless Chris Paul strongarms them into a move, Danny Ainge isn’t going to settle for less than decent value. Since he can’t get multiple picks or salary cap flexibility, it’s not worth blowing up your franchise up for a couple late round picks and DeAndre Jordan.

Time is running relatively short though now. Rivers is not going to coach anywhere else next year, unless it’s with KG in my opinion and I don’t think Garnett wants to start over anywhere else, unless it’s with Rivers on a contender. I don’t see any other contenders with coaching vacancies out there, so both of these guys are going to fade into the sunset, or they are back for at least one more run in Boston. It all probably depends on what Ainge elects to do with Pierce.

All in all, the possibility Doc and KG are back next season is still very real. Pierce too. Ainge dug himself into a hole cap-wise last season, but he’s not going to give those guys away to get out of that hole.

The bad blood about Doc wanting to leave? I don’t think there’s going to be too much of that either. By offering to go to LA with KG, he was doing Ainge a favor in helping C’s get value for both him and Garnett. It just didn’t work out. My guess there was plenty of civil conversation about this behind closed doors. The Celtics may not be thrilled with Doc’s flirtation with LAC, but I don’t think it’s anything they can’t get over.

Now, comes the true test. Just how much does Doc wants to stay in town? And will Ainge be willing to let his coach walkaway since he wants to start rebuilding now, rather than field a competitive team next year with KG and Pierce on it? Or does he cave on Doc’s desire to return with Pierce and KG? Or does Doc want out either way?

We’ll find out in mere hours.

For now, anyway.

According to ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne:

The Los Angeles Clippers have once again walked away from the bargaining table and just might be done with the talks to acquire Kevin Garnett and Doc Rivers from the Boston Celtics for good, sources said Tuesday morning.

The teams have no plans to speak again, the sources said, and the Clippers are preparing to move on and hire a coach this week.

The talks broke down Tuesday morning when the Clippers “refused to budge” on Boston’s latest proposal that asked for DeAndre Jordan, straight up for Garnett, and two first-round draft picks as compensation for allowing Rivers out of the final three-years and $21 million of his contract.

You and I both know how these things go.  Talks could just as easily resume again and a deal could still be struck at any time.  However, Danny Ainge deserves a hearty helping of kudos for not budging on the Clippers’ demands.

Hey Danny!  How about we give you an overpaid center you can’t play in the 4th quarter and two late first round picks for your franchise cornerstone and the best coach in the league?  I know you wanted our young, unproven point guard that everyone is overrating and some salary cap relief but you’ll settle for a turd sandwhich, right?

Okay, slight exaggeration but I’m still happy Ainge walked away.