Doc Rivers: Trade talk 'stupid'
— -- The idea of the Knicks shipping impending free agent Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers for Blake Griffin was rejected by Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers before Saturday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs, with Rivers responding to a question about the move by saying, "Please, this is stupid."
"If you're the Knicks or whoever, would you want Blake Griffin? I would," he said. "So I don't see what the story is."
ESPN reported Friday night that both the Knicks and Clippers have had internal discussions about an Anthony-for-Griffin swap, but neither has proposed the deal to the other. One source close to the situation said the Clippers' latest internal discussion ended in favor of keeping Griffin.
"Call Pop [ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] and and ask if he would like Blake. I think he'd say, 'Yeah, I think so, yeah I think so,' " Rivers said. "We had nothing to do with it."
The Knicks' top priority appears to be re-signing Anthony to a long-term deal this offseason, but with the team struggling badly and Anthony refusing to give assurances that he will return, New York understands it must at least consider other options.
Anthony returned to the lineup Thursday night after missing three games with a sprained left ankle and tweaked it late in that win. He was still struggling with it Friday night, and winced almost every time he landed after jumping in the second half.
A trade would reunite Anthony with Olympic teammate Chris Paul. Anthony was asked before Sunday's game about that potential possibility.
"Everybody always says that they want to play with this guy or play with that guy," Anthony said. "Me and Chris have been rumored to play together since he [went to L.A.], there were always trade rumors to try to get us together. It never happens."
The 24-year-old Griffin, meanwhile, has averaged 26 points and nearly 11 rebounds in his past 10 games. He signed a five-year, $95 million contract extension with the Clippers in July 2012.
ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard, ESPNNewYork.com contributor Bryan Gutierrez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
