Sources – Ty Lue agrees to a contract extension with the Clippers

Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue has agreed to a new long-term contract that will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank were eager to secure a new contract for Lue, sources said, and negotiations with his agent, Andy Miller of Klutch Sports, led to a final agreement in recent days.

Lue’s trade provides an important element of stability to a Clippers team with some roster uncertainty looming this season. In stops with the Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers, where he won the 2016 NBA championship, Lue established himself as one of the most respected and sought-after coaches in the league.

The Clippers are determined to keep Paul George and James Harden in free agency, and the organization will move into the new, state-of-the-art Intuit Dome to start next season.

Lue, who had one year remaining on his contract, went 184-134 (.579) in his four seasons with the Clippers, the sixth-best in the NBA in that stretch, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Lue led the Clippers to the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals appearance in the 2020-21 season. As a franchise, the Clippers suffered numerous injuries to star players during Lue’s tenure. Kawhi Leonard and George were in the starting lineup in just 45% of Lue’s games as Clippers coach. He’s gone 97-47 in those games, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Lue spent most of his tenure adapting formations and schemes to overcome injuries to his stars. In 2023-24, Lue had to adapt when the Clippers traded Harden just three games into the season. After the trade, the Clippers lost six straight games, including five with Harden in the lineup. Ultimately, Lue and the Clippers turned the season around, including a 26-5 stretch that had them atop the Western Conference standings in early February.

Lue had to adjust again in April when Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season with inflammation in his right knee. Leonard missed Game 1 of the playoffs before returning for Games 2 and 3. Leonard’s surgically repaired knee did not respond the way the team had hoped, and the Clippers were without him for the rest of the six-game losing streak. To the Dallas Mavericks.

Lue is 312-217 (.590) in the regular season and 54-37 overall (.593) in the playoffs in his stops with the Cavaliers and Clippers.