NBA Rumors: Doc Rivers Expected to Return to Clippers Next Season

Check out the latest news and notes from around the NBA.

Despite the Los Angeles Clippers' Western Conference semifinals exit to the Denver Nuggets, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is expected to return to the team next season.

According to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes, Rivers will be "running it back next season," after being a major component in star forward Kawhi Leonard's arrival to the franchise last offseason. 

Leonard is a free agent after the 2020-21 NBA season.

Rivers was acquired in an offseason trade with the Celtics following the 2012-13 NBA season. He has been the Clippers' head coach since and has taken the team to the playoffs in six of his seven seasons with the club. 

Rivers has been a head coach in the NBA since the 1999-00 season, when he was the head coach of the Magic. He later coached the Celtics.

Throughout his two decade career as a head coach, he has won one NBA championship and made just a single other conference finals appearance. 

The Clippers finished the 2019-20 season with a 49-23 record before eventually being sent home in disappointing fashion Wednesday by the Nuggets.

Check out the latest news and notes from around the NBA: 

• Denver Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr., the architect of Denver's defense, made an even stronger case of the Chicago Bulls' head coaching job by helping his team defeat the Clippers. (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN)
• Veteran center Marc Gasol is considering a return to Europe for family reasons, where he would then continue his professional career. He played for the Raptors this past season, but is a free agent. (Xavier Saiso Garcia, Radio Ser Catalunya)
• The Sacramento Kings are hiring Houston Rockets assistant GM Monte McNair as new head of basketball operations. (Shams Charania & Sam Amick, The Athletic)
• Sources with knowledge of the Bucks' ownership's thinking said it's highly unlikely that the teams pursue Oklahoma City point guard Chris Paul as a solution to the team's issues. (Sam Amick & Eric Nehm, The Athletic)
• Giannis Antetokounmpo's older brother, Thanasis, and their agent, Alex Saratsis, also attend the recent meeting between the 2018-19 league MVP and Bucks management. (Sam Amick & Eric Nehm, The Athletic)