Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue is preparing for his fourth season leading the franchise from the sidelines. He’s helped the organization reach the playoffs in two of their three seasons together, including last year. Overall, Lue’s 58.4% win percentage as head coach, which includes his four seasons in Cleveland, shows he can help lead a winning effort.
But Lue was also set to enter this upcoming season without any more guaranteed years on his contract, putting his financial future in question. Lue’s goal was to reach an agreement with Los Angeles that added more years and money to his contract with the Clippers. He did end up getting the 2024-25 season guaranteed, but not before other NBA Finals contenders showed “serious interest” in hiring him to fill their coaching vacancies.
According to Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times, Lue was being pursued by both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns this past summer. Each team surprisingly decided to move on from their existing coaches, seeing Mike Budenholzer and Monty Williams cast off. Even though the Bucks have since hired Adrian Griffin, and the Suns have since landed on Frank Vogel, they clearly were curious about Lue too.
However, the Clippers never even allowed Lue to speak with other teams before giving him one more year of security. From Lue’s perspective, he’s not worried about what may happen years into the future, he’s only focused on this upcoming season.
“No, I mean I’ve got two years left on my deal, so you know I’m in a good position. I’m just happy to be where I’m at and go out there and have a good year this year and see what happens. But, like I said, I got two years left on my deal and I’m not really worried about an extension.”
Tyronn Lue on his future with Clippers
With franchise cornerstones Kawhi Leonard and Paul George able to decline their player options after this season, it only makes sense for the Clippers to put their focus on this upcoming NBA year instead of worrying about what may come later.
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