Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett has made it clear that he does not want to be traded to the Denver Nuggets, despite persistent rumors that the team is interested in signing the veteran power forward.

The Nuggets organization is looking to improve the team's lot, and Garnett would be a great step in that direction, but Garnett's representatives have made it clear that he is not on board with shipping out to the Mile High State, according to the Denver Post.

He's gone so far as to exercise his no-trade clause, basically putting the nix on any deal the Nuggets may offer in their quest to put together a championship-contending team, the Post reports.

Garnett -- who owns a home in Malibu, Calif. -- not only reportedly won't go to the Nuggets, he also is only willing to consider being traded to either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Los Angeles Clippers, CBS Sports reports, adding that he would be up for heading to one of the City of Angels' squads only if his Boston co-star Paul Pierce is also traded to a team other than the Celts.

The Celtics and the Clippers have both said there is no deal on the horizon to send Garnett out to join Blake Griffin and Chris Paul in the California sun, and Boston coach Doc Rivers doesn't seem to feel that Garnett will be leaving Boston anytime soon, as he called rumors about trading his star player "silly" on Tuesday, according to the New England Sports Network.

So a trade to either of the L.A. teams seems pretty unlikely, but the Denver Post suggests that it should come as no surprise to see KG playing somewhere other than TD Garden come Feb. 21, the NBA's trade deadline.

The Nuggets have a pretty good lineup of players available to tempt the Celtics into dealing Garnett -- if he can be tempted to leave -- in Andre Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried, and as Boston continues to falter this injury-tainted season, such a trade is probably looking pretty attractive to the head office there.

But Garnett, 36, needs to be on board with a trip to Denver before it can really be considered, and the newest reports suggest that he just isn't that into them. He's long been a highly loyal centerpiece of the Celts, and he isn't going to give that up for a trip to a pretty good Western Conference team (their record stands at 31-18, vs. Boston's 24, even if they've been surging the last couple of weeks).

"I bleed green, I die green, that's what it is," Garnett said recently, according to the Denver Post. "But it is a business, and when that crosses the paths, I deal with it. Trades are part of this league."

Only time will tell how it all plays out for KG and the Celtics.

NBA California Rumors Los Angeles