Ty Lue Contract Details With Clippers Revealed by NBA Insider

The head coach inked an extension with Los Angeles after three playoff appearances in his first four seasons.
Tyronn Lue
Tyronn Lue / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

On Wednesday, it was reported the Los Angeles Clippers had reached an agreement on a contract extension with head coach Ty Lue. On Thursday, Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed the terms of the new deal.

Speaking on "Run It Back," the NBA insider said Lue's deal is worth $70 million over five years.

"Finally, Ty Lue's extension, done with the Clippers," Charania said to host Michelle Beadle. "Five years, Michelle, $70 million from what I'm told, for the extension for Ty Lue. That's about $14 million a season and that puts him right up there with the top coaches in the league."

Lue was hired by the Clippers ahead of the 2020-'21 season and from all reports is considered one of the more respected baskeball minds in the league. In the last four seasons he's posted a 184-144 record with three playoff appearances. Lue's new deal will keep him under contract until the 2029-'30 offseason and owner Steve Ballmer must have been thrilled to get the contract done ahead of the team's first year in their new arena in Inglewood.

Lue will presumably have to make a few more deep playoff runs to ensure he sticks around that long, though. After reaching the conference finals in his first season in L.A., Lue hasn't gotten Clippers past the first round and missed the playoffs entirely in 2021-'22.

In fairness, Lue is afforded more grace than other coaches on teams with similarly high expectations and starpower because his cornerstone player famously has a severe injury problem. Kawhi Leonard was fantastic in helping the Clippers get to the conference finals in Lue's debut season, but missed the entirety of the following year with a knee injury he suffered during the deep playoff run. In the last two years Leonard has missed 34 regular season games and suited up for all of four postseason contests.

Lue's tactical abilities have meant the Clippers managed to tread water without their star, which is a large part of the reason why he's so well-respected despite lacking meaningful playoff success in Los Angeles. In many ways, the way Lue managed to keep his roster competitive despite regular injuries to both Leonard and Paul George makes up the foundation of this new deal. Eventually, however, there will have to be results.

For now, Lue is secure with an extension in place, and a quite lucrative one at that.


Published
Liam McKeone

LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a Senior Writer for the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. In addition to his role as a writer, he collaborates with other teams across Minute Media to help define his team’s content strategy. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in 2024, Liam worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, Liam is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books, and video games. Liam has been a member of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA) since 2020.