The LA Clippers are planning to pursue a contract extension with coach Tyronn Lue that may permit him to keep away from coming into the ultimate 12 months of his deal in 2025-26, sources instructed ESPN on Friday.
Lue is anticipated to be a goal within the Los Angeles Lakers’ teaching search and maybe different looming vacancies.
The Clippers are trailing the Dallas Mavericks 3-2 within the Western Convention first-round playoff sequence, with Recreation 6 on Friday night time. Nonetheless, the result of this postseason has no bearing on the Clippers’ want to maintain Lue because the franchise’s long-term coach, sources mentioned. LA was 51-31 and the fourth seed within the Western Convention this season.
The Clippers have been with out All-NBA ahead Kawhi Leonard for a lot of the sequence with proper knee irritation, however the group’s purpose stays to re-sign free brokers Paul George and James Harden alongside Leonard, sources mentioned.
The Lakers supplied Lue their head-coaching job in 2019, however he turned it down when the perimeters could not agree on phrases, sources mentioned. After a 12 months on Doc Rivers’ Clippers workers that season, Lue ascended to the top job and led the Clippers to the franchise’s first Western Convention finals berth in 2020-21.
The Clippers — who’ve suffered via quite a few accidents to star gamers in Lue’s tenure — have superior to the playoffs in every of the previous two seasons. The crew has the NBA’s sixth-best document since 2020-21 beneath Lue at 184-134, in line with ESPN Stats & Data.
Lue has spent a lot of his Clippers tenure adapting lineups and schemes to work round accidents to his stars. This season, Lue needed to modify per week into the common season when the Clippers traded for Harden simply three video games into the season.
After the commerce, the Clippers lose six straight video games — together with 5 with Harden within the lineup. However after Russell Westbrook moved to the bench, Lue and the Clippers turned their season round. At one level, they went on a 26-5 tear to face atop the Western Convention standings on Feb. 6.
Lue earned Western Convention Coach of the Month honors for December and January.
Lue needed to adapt once more in April when Leonard missed the ultimate eight video games of the common season with irritation in his proper knee. Leonard missed Recreation 1 earlier than returning for Video games 2 and three. However his surgically repaired knee did not reply the best way he had hoped, and the crew has saved its star out since.
Lue, who received an NBA championship as Cleveland’s coach in 2016, is 312-217 (.590) total within the common season and 52-33 (.612) within the playoffs.
ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.
