NBA: Nets pursuing trade for Garnett, Pierce - reports

The Brooklyn Nets are aggressively pursuing a trade with the Boston Celtics for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, ahead of the 2013 NBA Draft, multiple sources said, Thursday (Friday, PHL time).

The Celtics recently allowed head coach Doc Rivers to move over to the LA Clippers, getting a future first round draft pick as compensation. Garnett was supposed to be involved in the deal, but the league prevented his inclusion, as under the current collective bargaining agreement, coaches are not allowed to be traded.  

Making things complicated is the fact that the two franchises are in the same division. Garnett also has a no-trade clause, giving him the ability to block a deal, which is why Pierce is included in the potential transaction in order to make the move more palatable to him.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports later reported that the deal "has reached ownership level," with another veteran, Jason Terry, being included in the list of outgoing Celtics.

Terry is a former teammate of current Nets head coach Jason Kidd.

Wojnarowski added that in the proposed trade, Boston would get back Gerald Wallace, Tornike Shengelia, the expiring contract of Kris Humphries, Reggie Evans, a signed-and-traded Keith Bogans, plus one more minimum-level contract.

In addition, the Celtics would also receive first round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

According to ESPN's Marc Stein, because of the sign-and-trade component, such a deal cannot take place until July 10, when teams can sign players to contracts. The Celtics would also have to not trigger the buyout clause on Paul Pierce's contract.

Stein also added that the deal has been presented to Garnett already, and that the picks involved would be the worst of the Hawks (via the trade for Joe Johnson) and Nets' first rounders in 2014, plus unprotected selections in 2016 and 2018.

Both these teams made the playoffs this season, with the Nets as the fourth seed, and the Celtics in seventh place. Both were eliminated in the first round though. - AMD, GMA News