Collison holds no hard feelings toward Clippers
LOS ANGELES - It wasn't that Darren Collison didn't want to come back to the Clippers or that the Clippers didn't want him to return.
No, Collison simply couldn't come back - not after what the Kings offered.
Collison , now the starting point guard for the Sacramento Kings, returned to Staples Center on Sunday and while he expressed some disappointment in not being back, he said he understood.
'Even before I even knew about the Kings, the plan was to come back here and continue to fulfill my role. I had played so well with the Clippers and I gave it my all. My goal was to try and come back and help them win a championship,' Collison said. 'Then, when free agency started, that's when the Kings pitched their idea and their thoughts of me, and they tried to build with me, along with the other players, for the future.
'That's what you have to go with. You have to play with a team that really wants you, first.'
The Kings are glad they landed him, particularly after Sunday's 98-92 victory over the Clippers. Collison shook free to hit a huge 15-foot jumper in the final minute to put the Kings up by four.
It wasn't that the Clippers didn't want Collison - they did. They valued his ball-pressuring defense, his relentless pace and his versatility. But, they knew they couldn't compete with what the market was going to offer.
'We knew that midseason. You're usually disappointed when you think you're going to sign someone. When another team calls you and tells you they're going to promise you the starting job, you're probably going to lose him,' Coach Doc Rivers said. 'That wasn't a hard one. It was hard to lose him but it wasn't a shock. I wanted to keep him. I thought he would have been perfect here forever but I know math.'
The Clippers' best offer was going to be around $3 million less than the Kings' and it wouldn't have offered the same stability as Sacramento's three-year offer.
So, Rivers didn't even really try.
'I didn't even bother,' he said. 'I called and talked to him, but it was pretty much out of our hands and we knew that.'
Collison said he hoped that Clippers would've shown more interest, but the numbers are what the numbers are.
'I kind of had to make a decision quick because the market was kind of drying up,' Collison said. '(The Clippers) were looking for a wing player; I was looking for a home at the same time.
'I thought it was going to be the Clippers, and it just didn't work out.'
Without Collison, the Clippers settled on Jordan Farmar to back up Chris Paul, but the team still misses a lot of what Collison brought to the table.
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