by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON — Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chis Paul was asked on Saturday if his team needed to upgrade their roster for the short term while possibly compromising the long-term outlook.

“I don’t think we need to (make any trades),” Paul said.

It was an interesting setup on the media stages for Saturday’s availability that Paul and Boston Celtics center Kevin Garnett were side by side.

As if there was any chance the buzz was going to die down about the Clippers landing Boston’s Hall-of-Fame-bound big man to join forces with their Hall-of-Fame-bound point guard, the curious (and convenient) positioning only fueled the latest trade deadline fire. Possibilities like this one remain endless leading up to the Feb. 21 deadline, but nothing has come of them yet.

In terms of a player’s input potentially affecting roster moves, Paul’s star status combined with the fact that he’ll be a free agent this summer has afforded him more latitude than perhaps any other player in the league right now. But despite his affection for Garnett, he insisted that he’s not pushing for this particular trade.

“No,” he said when asked if he had asked Clippers officials to land Garnett. “Everybody knows I love our team. I love the position that we’re in right now (third in the Western Conference at 29-17). We’ve been playing great basketball. Right now, I’m focused on who we have and what we’re doing, because we’re not playing bad.”

While there had been no communication between the Clippers’ and Celtics’ front offices as of two weeks ago regarding a deal that would bring Garnett to the Clippers, a person with knowledge of the situation said Boston has initiated the talks but nothing substantial has come of them. The Clippers, the person said, are considering this possibility and a number of others as the deadline approaches. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the discussions.

Garnett said on Saturday morning that he has no intentions of waiving his no-trade clause, though the notion of playing for the Clippers could eventually be intriguing to him not … [For more on Chris Paul: Not pushing Clippers for Kevin Garnett trade, click here.]