Blakely: source says Doc's "really tore up"

Blakely is a little more dialed into the team than Chris Broussard or Stephen A. Smith. Here's his update:

Source: Rivers still undecided on future

But a league source contacted by CSNNE.com on Wednesday indicated that Rivers continues to mull over whether he will return to Boston, and he hasn't made a decision one way or the other.

One player contacted Wednesday said, "We're waiting just like you guys."

"He's really torn up about this," the source said.

It is unclear if he has given his players any indication of his plans for next season.

At this point, it's crazy to speculate what's going through Doc's head right now. What's more important is the possible order of the dominoes that need to fall. Those dominoes are Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Doc Rivers, and to some extent, Rajon Rondo. The conventional wisdom has been that with an option to buy out The Captain's final year of his contract, the decision on Pierce had to come first. Subsequently, that would effect KG's willingness to delay retirement and depending on the future of those two Hall of Famers, Doc could decide if he wanted to return to a retooled roster or a complete rebuild with his Rondo coming back from ACL rehab.

Maybe I'm reading between the lines here, but it sounds to me that decisions have already been made on what to do with Pierce and how that might affect Garnett. My educated guess is that they're both probably gone. When Doc signed a five-year extension, he said he was signing up for the eventual rebuild of the franchise but now face-to-face with it, he's clearly having doubts.

But here's the thing: even if two dominoes have already been tipped over, does Doc have the pull in the organization to stand them back up? If he went to Danny in the 11th hour and said that the only way he's coming back to coach is if his two generals are by his side, would Ainge delay the nuclear strike on the roster?

If you're a fan of Doc like myself, there is one comforting update that has come up over the last few hours: Ainge denied the Nets and Clippers permission to talk to Doc. Pessimists might look at that as a sign that Danny isn't that confident that Doc wants to come back, but I'll take it as DA bunkering himself in with the coach he's worked hand-in-hand over the last nine years in order to hash out a plan for Banner #18 without distraction.