Veteran forward Paul Pierce will be back next season and will look for better contract options as he is reportedly expected to be a free agent and will decline his $5.5 million player option with the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Clippers seems interested with the 2008 NBA champion.
The Clippers recently traded for guard Lance Stephenson sending veteran big men Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes to the Charlotte Hornets.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said he sees Stephenson as a "utility player" coming off the bench which likely means they are looking for a starter at the No. 3 spot.
"We got a lot of work to do. Worst case, and it's not a bad case, I still think that Lance is an upgrade, even at that position if we wanted to start him. I'm planning on doing more things this summer," Rivers said in a radio interview last week.
ESPN's Arash Markazi reported that a source said the Clippers will look to explore inking Pierce.
Markazi said the 37-year-old may sign a mini-midlevel exception of $3.37 million for three years.
If Pierce joins Los Angeles, he will be reunited with Rivers who was his former head coach when he was still with the Boston Celtics.
Rivers and Pierce helped the Celtics to their 17<sup>th franchise championship back in 2008.
Pierce has starred for Washington last season with his veteran leadership as they reached the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in six games.
He was averaging 11.9 points in 73 regular season games in the 2014-15 season and improved his performance during the postseason as he averaged 14.6 points per outing.
According to Markazi's report, the Clippers are also looking for trade options for sixth-man Jamal Crawford to bring Denver Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler to Los Angeles.
Another player involved in the possible trade deal for Chandler along with Crawford is 2014 first round pick guard C.J. Wilcox.
"We're going to be very creative. We have a pretty good plan in place. It started and we feel comfortable with where we're at," Rivers said according to ESPN.
