After the Clippers agreed to send the Celtics a 2015 first round pick as compensation, the Celtics let Rivers out of his contract to head to LA. But is Rivers leaving because he prefers Chris Paul to the mecurial Rajon Rondo?

With Boston's Big Three, done after Ray Allen departed last season, and with the Celtics' head coach Doc Rivers bound for Los Angeles, it's worth pondering just what's happened in necessitate this dramatic about-face.

There were questions about the future of the Celtics after they were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the New York Knicks earlier this spring, but Rivers' departure was a surprise to many close to the team.

It's been reported that Chris Paul was unhappy with the way the Clippers were going about replacing Vinny Del Negro as head coach of the Clippers and was just as upset the negotiations to get Doc away from Boston looked done earlier in the week.

It was even rumored that Paul wouldn't re-sign with the Clippers as a free agent if they didn't bring Doc Rivers aboard as head coach, and that's why the Clippers got the deal done at close to the last minute.

With the announcement earlier tonight that Doc is headed to coach the Clippers, and they only had to give up a first round draft choice in 2015, Paul will likely sign with the Clippers come July 1st when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

But more news has come out about the often secretive relationship between one of the Celtics' biggest stars, and their coach, which might explain why Rivers was so hellbent on getting out of town.

On Saturday Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com, reported that Doc and Celtics point guard, Rajon Rondo, were involved in a locker-room altercation last season which likely precipitated Rivers' departure.

Said SheridanHoops.com:

"A source close to the Celtics tells Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com that Rondo dropped an F-bomb on Rivers in the locker room during a team meeting, and Rivers went after Rondo and tried to fight him before the fracas was broken up. "

Whether the Chris Paul free agency rumors are actually tied to Rivers' hiring are still unconfirmed, as is Sheridan's report of a Doc and Rajon Rondo altercation nearly coming to blows in the locker-room, but it makes you wonder after all that's transpired this week.