12:21pm: The Clippers have officially completed Lue’s extension, the team announced in a press release. In a statement, president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank referred to Lue as a “brilliant tactician and a natural leader,” adding that he’s a “pillar of the organization” who will be with the team for a long time.
“This is where I want to be,” Lue said in a statement of his own. “I’ve loved coaching this team for the past four years and I’m excited to head into a new era at Intuit Dome. I’m grateful to (team owner) Steve (Ballmer), Lawrence, and the entire organization for the opportunity. With our ownership, front office, roster, staff, and arena, we have all the advantages we need to win in the present and the future, and I’m confident we will.”
According to Shams Charania and Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), Lue’s new deal is worth $70MM over five years.
11:02am: The Clippers have reached an agreement with head coach Tyronn Lue on a contract extension, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Lue had been entering the final year of his current contract with the team.
While Wojnarowski doesn’t have specific details on exactly how many years the new contract will cover, he refers to it as a “long-term” extension, which suggests the Clippers have locked up their head coach for at least the next few years. Woj also states that it will make Lue one of the NBA’s highest-paid coaches. A number of coaches have signed deals worth more than $10MM per season in recent years, so it seems safe to assume Lue will earn an eight-figure annual salary on his new contract.
Signing Lue to an extension had been one of the Clippers’ top priorities entering a critical offseason. The head coach, who previously led the Cavaliers to a title and two additional NBA Finals appearances, was hired in 2020 and has posted a 184-134 (.579) regular season record across four seasons in Los Angeles, despite dealing with a plethora of injuries to his star players during that time. Lue has a 97-47 record in games that both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have played, notes Wojnarowski.
The Clippers haven’t won a playoff series since reaching the Western Conference finals in 2021, but Lue hasn’t received the blame for those early postseason exits and remains highly regarded by team ownership and management.
Lue’s extension with the Clippers officially takes him off the table as an option for the cross-town Lakers, who are conducting a head coaching search this spring and reportedly coveted Lue, who began his playing career with the Lakers and won two championships with the franchise.
With a new deal for Lue in place, the Clippers will be able to shift their focus to free agency, where George (player option), Russell Westbrook (player option), and James Harden (unrestricted free agent) could all reach the open market in a matter of weeks.