Ever since Los Angeles Clipper Blake Griffin injured his hand in an altercation, he has been strongly rumored to be on the trading block.
As reported by Yahoo! Sports, the team's forward is suspected to miss several weeks due to his hand injury. The off-court incident happened in an between the team's equipment manager who is also Griffin's close friend.
"A situation among friends escalated and I regret the way I handled myself towards someone I care about," Griffin wrote in a statement on Twitter. "I want to apologize to the Clippers organization, my teammates and the fans for creating a distraction."
The team's owner Steve Balmer and Doc Rivers released a statement that said, "This conduct has no place in our organization and this incident does not represent who we are as a team. We are conducting a full investigation with assistance from the NBA. At the conclusion of the investigation, appropriate action will be taken."
Now head coach Doc Rivers made it clear that they are not looking to trade their all-star forward as per ESPN.
"I've told you we're not trading Blake, but I guess everyone else wants to keep doing that. So we'll let them do that," Rivers said. "It is what it is. Nothing we can do about it, honestly. It frustrates you when you know nothing's going on, but what can you do?"
"That's none of [the media's] business. It really isn't," Rivers said about possibly fielding trade calls for the high flyer. "I hate to say it. It's none of [the fans' business either]. Having said that, I think we receive phone calls on every single player, honestly. But it does frustrate me when you hear all the speculation and all that stuff. It's completely untrue."
Now, as seen on Yahoo! Sports, the Clippers are nearing a deal to send barely used shooting guard Lance Stephenson to the Orlando Magic for shooting big man Channing Frye.