The Los Angeles Clippers and coach Tyronn Lue have agreed to a long-term contract extension that will make Lue one of the league’s highest-paid coaches, per NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Lue had been entering the final year of his deal.
Interestingly, a source told Hoops Wire that the Los Angeles Lakers were closely monitoring Lue’s situation with the Clippers. The Lakers were not expected to hire a new coach until they knew for certain that Lue wouldn’t be available.
But during contract negotiations, the Clippers were said to be blocking Lue from speaking with other teams, given that he still had a year left on his deal.
“The Clippers know they can’t upgrade on Lue,” wrote Sam Amick and Law Murray of The Athletic. “They didn’t extend him last offseason, though they guaranteed the last year of the five-year contract he signed in 2020 to succeed Doc Rivers as head coach.
“Other teams were blocked from talking to Lue. According to team sources, that would be the case again if teams attempt to pry him away this offseason. Lue has already been tied to the Lakers’ vacancy, and his stellar reputation as a title-winning coach means he’d likely be in the running for any job that becomes open.”
Lue is 184-134 in the regular season and 13-17 in the playoffs with the Clippers — who lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round this year.
“I hope so,” Lue told NBA reporters when asked after Game 6 if he would remain with the Clippers. “I didn’t come here to bounce around and go all over the place. Mr. Ballmer, Lawrence, (senior vice president and assistant general manager) Mark (Hughes), (general manager) Trent (Redden), (president of business operations) Gillian (Zucker), they’ve all been great to me. This is where I want to be, and hopefully they feel the same way.”
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