Mar 14, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Georgia Bulldogs guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) is defended by LSU Tigers guard Malik Morgan (24) during the second round of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

While a lot of local press are trying hard to squash the possibility of Shabazz Muhammad going at #9 to the Wolves I’m getting a little concerned over the love Kentavious Calwell-Pope is receiving from plugged-in draftnicks like the guys at Draft Express.

KCP has the advanced stats to make the geeks gush and C.J. McCollum has the interview chops of a politician. Sleepers could be gaining steam.

Every year there’s a player who makes considerable headway in endearing themselves to NBA decision-makers late in the draft process, and this season that player seems to be Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who backs up his late rise by joining Oladipo and McLemore among the more efficient scoring guards in this class, with a fourth ranked 1.035 PPP overall.

Unlike the two players ranked above him, Caldwell-Pope posted fairly high usage numbers, as his 17.6 possessions per-game ranks fifth in this group (third among high-major conference SGs), and is a reflection of just how heavily Georgia relied on his ability to put the ball in the basket last season.

His play-type usage doesn’t really stand out from the crowd, as he did a little bit of everything last season, but his 5.1 combined pick and roll and isolation possessions per-game does set him apart from McLemore and Oladipo, as he used more than twice as many possessions creating his own shot in the half court than any guard projected to be selected in the first round.

Caldwell-Pope’s biggest weapon when he looked to score was his pull-up jump shot. With nearly three-quarters of his shot attempts coming from the perimeter in the half court, roughly half of which were off the bounce, he scored a second ranked 1.118 points per-shot as a pull-up jump shooter, an impressive mark relative to his average 1.066 points per-shot in catch and shoot situations.

If Caldwell-Pope has a weakness on paper, it is his average finishing ability relative to his peer group. A 55.6% shooter in transition and 53.7% shooter at the rim in half court situations, he hovers right around the mean in both categories. Turning the ball over on a sample second ranked 10.6% of his possessions, Caldwell-Pope’s low turnover rate certainly helped compensate for his issues around the rim last season.

May 3, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers watches from the sideline as they take on the New York Knicks in game six of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Shades of Roy Hibbert and Indiana’s loss to Miami in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Sitting Tim Duncan late and missing 2 offensive rebounds in the final.. it doesn’t matter. Tough loss for San Antone.

Postmortem on the KG to the Clippers with Rivers — this version, anyway. From Sekou Smith at nba.com.

But the proposed trade between the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, the one that would have sent Kevin Garnett, DeAndre Jordan and a couple of Draft picks, along with Doc Rivers in a separate scenario, across country in different directions is now “dead,” according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times:

Turner has more in his story for the Times, where he details what may have caused a breakdown in the potential blockbuster:

The final sticking point that stopped the deal was Boston president of basketball operationsDanny Ainge insisting that Clippers vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks give the Celtics two No. 1 draft picks along with DeAndre Jordan, said league officials who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Sacks was prepared to trade Jordan and one No. 1 pick for the rights to negotiate with Rivers and to acquire Garnett, but refused to add another first-round pick, the executives said.

The Clippers and Celtics started talks again early Tuesday morning, knowing that Eric Bledsoewasn’t going to be in the deal, but were still unable to make a connection.

The Clippers now move on to having more conversations with Byron Scott and Brian Shaw, the executives said.

Further proof that the current deal is no longer in play comes from the Boston Globe, where Ainge confirmed to Baxter Holmes that the deal is indeed dead:

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed to the Globe that the proposed Celtics-Clippers blockbuster deal that would have sent both Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett to the Clippers is, in fact, “dead.”

The Clippers began leaking word Tuesday that the Celtics’ asking price of DeAndre Jordan and two first-round draft picks in exchange for Rivers and Garnett was too steep, and they were set to move on and hire either Lionel Hollins or Brian Shaw as a new coach.

A league source confirmed to the Globe that the main hangup in the deal was that the Clippers did not want to give up a second first-round draft pick.

Now, Rivers is certainly in an interesting position.

Because of a non-compete clause in the five-year extension he signed in 2011, Rivers can’t coach anywhere else for the next three years unless the Celtics grant permission.

But Rivers, according to league sources, is not at all enamored with the idea of coaching a rebuilding team.