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Report: Clippers trying to hire Sam Cassell away from the Wizards

According to Yahoo, the LA Clippers are trying to hire assistant coach Sam Cassell away from Washington.

By Amin Vafa
USA TODAY Sports

The Wizards have been pretty busy since the beginning of free agency. As of yesterday, they've locked up 14 of the available 15 roster spots, and they hired David Adkins to be part of the coaching staff.

Now, it looks as though they're going to be busy with another personnel decision, as Yahoo is reporting that the Clippers are trying to bring Sam Cassell over to L.A. to join the coaching staff there.

It's not surprising that Doc Rivers is trying to poach Cassell, really. If you remember during Boston's title run in 2008, the Celtics signed Cassell late in the season as their third point guard. He never saw the floor during those playoffs, but he would always give advice and tips to the younger guys on the bench, and he and Rivers were constantly on the sidelines coming up with plays together. When a player acts as a de facto assistant coach, that's the definition of "veteran leadership." Now that Cassell's an actual coach, it's no wonder Rivers allegedly wants him by his side again.

As Woj says, there's no deal in place yet. Since these kinds of transitions fall outside of the confines of the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, there are no formal means for one team to hire away a person on another staff during the offseason. As you may remember, the Wizards lost two members of their management team to Minnesota and Denver last season, and that was--well, that was just's a normal thing that happens when a person gets a new job, really.

Sometimes, though, there's a compensation package involved. There was when Doc Rivers went to the Clippers last season, and there was when Jason Kidd went to the Bucks this summer. It's unclear at this point if there will be a compensation package involved, but Cassell is currently under contract with Washington, and the other coaches and players are fond enough of him that it wouldn't be surprising if the Wizards received some sort of compensation from the Clippers if this move went through. (UPDATE: Check out djnnnou's comment below for some more info about these kinds of potential transactions.)