Clippers' Rivers on trades team didn't make under Sterling: You'd 'fall off your chair'

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers may have had a drastically different team to work with in 2014-15 had former owner Donald Sterling not gotten in the way of some potential trades two years ago.

During a recent radio interview with Beast 980's Fred Roggin in Los Angeles, Rivers mentioned how astonished everyone would be if they knew of some of the deals that were on the table that didn't come to fruition:

This is really only my third year but you can make a case this is our second year if you know what I'm saying. If I someday wrote a book and told you a couple of the trades we had in the first year that we didn't do because of other reasons, you would fall off your chair.

One trade Sterling wasn't around to interject in was the Clippers recently sending versatile defensive forward Matt Barnes and center Spencer Hawes to the Charlotte Hornets for 24-year-old Lance Stephenson, who Rivers believes will help the Clippers "get tougher, more athletic, and improve defensively."

Considering Rivers' overly descriptive tone, it questions what kind of moves Sterling ultimately vetoed at the start of his coaching run and whether a high-profile name like Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, or DeAndre Jordan was ever in danger of being sent packing.

Los Angeles was bounced from the Western Conference semifinals for the third time in four years this season, falling to James Harden and the Houston Rockets in seven games.

Only eight players are currently under contract, with Jordan, who earned a spot on the All-NBA Third team, entering restricted free agency. Lester Hudson and Jordan Hamilton both have non-guaranteed deals.