Clippers are trying to get KG and become more unlikeable

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By Sean DeveneySporting News

BOSTON — Multiple sources tell Sporting News the Los Angeles Clippers are making a push to acquire center Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics. Team officials have been talking ahead of Sunday's game in Boston.

Interest in Garnett is seen as proof the Clippers believe they can be a championship contender in the NBA's Western Conference. Questions remain about whether the Celtics are ready to make a major step in rebuilding the franchise. Garnett has a no-trade clause in his contract, and would have to agree to waive it in order to make a deal happen.

Kevin Garnett is being targeted by the Clippers to aid their title hopes. (AP Photo)

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Things have not been going well for the Clippers, but for that at least there is a handy excuse — the team has been knocked around by injuries.

Their most notable problem is in the backcourt. However, it appears the team believes that will be fixed when Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford heal.

It is a need for strong frontcourt play that brings the Clippers' interest in Garnett.

The crux of an offer for Garnett, according to sources, would be based around second-year guard Eric Bledsoe and veteran wing Caron Butler.

Celtics officials have made no decisions about the future, even with rookie power forward Jared Sullinger (back surgery) joining point guard Rajon Rondo (knee) last week in seeing their seasons end.

The Celtics came into Sunday's game on a four-game winning streak and will wait until closer to the trade deadline to decide whether to keep this team together. The deadline is 3 p.m. ET Feb. 21.

For now, the Clippers wait on their injured guards. Billups is working his way back from a foot injury. There is no timetable for the return of star point guard Paul from a knee injury. Crawford, the team's sixth man, is wearing an industrial-strength facemask to protect his broken nose.

The Clippers are a battered bunch and losers of five of their previous seven games.

Coach Vinny Del Negro hopes to get Paul and Billups back during the team's eight-game trip, which runs through Feb. 11.

"Right now, it is all about winning games," Del Negro said. "We need to get guys back to win at a higher rate than we are right now, then we were used to at the beginning of the season. It's a long season; you have to manage it the right way. When we think we're getting everyone back, it seems like, so far this year, someone's been injured. You have to manage that. You have to take the highs and the lows."

But still, the Clippers are going for it. And why not? When healthy, they count themselves among NBA title contenders. That's saying something for a franchise that had long been considered not just among the NBA's worst, but in all of sports.

Considering, too, the struggles of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers see this season as a chance to reach at least the Western Conference finals and in doing so to reorder the hoops hierarchy in L.A.

With that in mind, they're making a push to upgrade their lineup before the trade deadline.

If things fall apart in Boston and Celtics president Danny Ainge swings toward making deals designed to rebuild on the fly, trading Garnett would be a key.

Garnett will be a starter in the NBA All-Star Game in two weeks. He also turns 37 this year and has two years left on his contract, calling for $23.5 million in salary. Getting the third year of his bulky deal off the books (Butler has one year remaining after this one) and acquiring a young talent like Bledsoe is a solid way to start rebuilding. But the Celtics are not giving up on this season just yet.

Still, a willingness to take on a salary like Garnett's signals the Clippers' seriousness in seizing a championship opportunity.

Injuries have knocked the Clippers to third in the West, but the team is confident it can compete with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs — if it adds a veteran piece, particularly in the frontcourt.

Center DeAndre Jordan would like to be more involved in the Clippers' offense, but his limited scoring ability makes that difficult, and he is playing 24.2 minutes per game. Garnett would be an upgrade.

The Clippers are also face a critical summer, with Paul heading into free agency. They want Paul to stay long term and one sure way to persuade him to do so is to show him the team can win a championship sooner rather than later.

The opportunity to at least be in the mix is there, and because of that, the Clippers will be active between now and Feb. 21.