Doc Rivers: bringing Paul Pierce to LA "would've been great"

Doc Rivers is a big proponent of chemistry - so it should come as no surprise that the Los Angeles Clippers head coach did everything in his power to bring free-agent forward Paul Pierce to Los Angeles. 

Pierce, who played for Rivers in Boston, agreed to a two-year, $11-million deal with the Washington Wizards over the weekend after spending one season with the Brooklyn Nets.

In an interview with the New York Post's Tim Bontemps, Rivers acknowledged that he had engaged in high-level conversations with Pierce in an attempt to lure the veteran forward to California. But the Clippers didn't have enough assets to orchestrate a sign-and-trade with the Nets, and Pierce opted to sign in D.C.

"Quite honestly a sign-and-trade just wasn't possible for us," Rivers told the Post. "That would've been great.

"The Nets, they're in a tough situation because they have so much money (tied up). They're at $100 million, so they can't take any more salaries, and a sign-and-trade would mean they're taking more salary, so they really just can't do it."

Rivers went on to say that he didn't know Pierce would wind up with the Wizards, but did say that he "knew (Pierce) wanted to go to a team that had a chance to win games. That was very important for him."