LOS ANGELES — As much time as fans spend pondering trade possibilities this time of year, Doc Rivers knows it’s heavy on players’ minds as well.
“Players think more than a lot about stuff,” Rivers said before his Clippers faced the San Antonio Spurs on Monday – with the NBA’s trade deadline looming at noon PT on Thursday. “So, from a coaching standpoint, sometimes it’s nice to just go talk to them, let them know how you feel about them and what you need.
“I just think in life, you should be transparent,” Rivers added. “You know, you really should be. You should tell your guys what you think – what you think about them, and ways they can help themselves and the team. The more you do that, the more you communicate, the more you touch them, the better they have (it).”
This week last season, the Clippers were especially busy. In a matter of days, they traded away Tobias Harris, Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic, Avery Bradley and Mike Muscala (whom they’d acquired for Harris, Scott and Marjanovic). They brought aboard Landry Shamet, Ivica Zubac and JaMychal Green, as well as Garrett Temple and Wilson Chandler. They waived Marcin Gortat.
On Monday, Rivers wasn’t tipping his hand in regard to any potential maneuvering at this deadline, insisting the Clippers, as currently constructed, inspire his confidence.
“I mean, listen. We love our team right now. We really do,” Rivers said. “And so that’s what I’m looking at right now, is how to get the team we have on the floor right now better – or on the floor.”
That has been the issue for this season’s Clippers, who have players who have combined to miss 90 games, which has contributed to 23 starting lineups through 49 games.
“A lot of our guys have not been able to play,” Rivers said. “(Paul George has) missed a lot (21 games). There are times where I do freak out about it, but then there’s times we’re gonna be fine, and at the end of the day, I think we’ll be fine.
“We run enough stuff in skeleton and in our shootarounds, that we think we’ll be OK. And we still have a lot of games left, and so as long as we can, you know, get guys on the floor these last 30 games or so, I think we’ll be fine.”
SUPER BOWL REACTION
Rivers said he appreciated the NFL’s tributes to Kobe Bryant at Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“It was really cool,” Rivers said. “The Kobe tributes from the players was really cool and then just the moment of silence and everything before the game was great.”
Bryant was among nine killed in a helicopter crash Jan. 26 in Calabasas, an event that sent shockwaves through the NBA and beyond in the days since.
“And then the game was great,” Rivers added. “It was a great game! Kansas City won and their defense is what won it at the end of the day – I guess you could say (Patrick) Mahomes was pretty good too, though. But it was really a good game. Enjoyed it.”
And what about the Clippers’ resident Kansas City, Mo., native?
Yes, Shamet enjoyed the game, too.
The second-year shooting guard with an appreciation for good barbecue posted a celebratory story on Instagram and, then “he finally told us he was from Missouri,” Rivers said, pausing to let the joke settle. (President Donald Trump tweeted his congratulations on Sunday night to “the Great State of Kansas.”)
Added Rivers: “I did quiz several players on that today. They all passed.”
Kansas City native @landryshamet currently. pic.twitter.com/tkqjsjv02a
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 3, 2020