3 teams who could pry Ty Lue away from Clippers as extension talks stall

The Los Angeles Clippers fanbase is well versed in the realm of deja vu. The same thing happens every season, without fail. Another successful regular season led to a first round postseason exit because Kawhi Leonard was hurt. Rinse, repeat. Next up, the 2024-25 campaign, presumably with the same core.

Paul George and James Harden are free agents, but the Clippers are expected to re-sign both. Russell Westbrook is primed to leave, but we don't need to pretend like that's some catastrophic loss. If anything, it allows L.A. to upgrade those minutes without feeling beholden to Russ' ego and the respect he demands as a former MVP.

Next season, the Clippers will officially move into the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. That puts immense pressure on the front office and ownership to field not only a winner, but a team with a real chance to go deep into the playoffs. This is as much a financial proposition as it is a basketball proposition.

Front of mind this offseason is Ty Lue. The Clippers' head coach is widely regarded as one of the league's brightest schematic minds. He led Cleveland to a championship in 2016. Now, he's slated to earn $7 million annually through the end of his contract in the 2025-26 season. The Clippers would like to lock up Lue on a long-term extension, but right now, the two sides appear far apart.

There "hasn't been any progress" in extension talks between Lue and the Clippers, per Shams Charania on Up & Adams. While it's not necessarily a pressing matter, the longer the door stays open for Lue to relocate, the worse LA fans will feel about it.

If Lue and the Clippers can't agree to terms, here are a few NBA teams who could mount a serious run at the NBA champ.

3. Ty Lue would help Bucks more than Doc Rivers

The Milwaukee Bucks fired Adrian Griffin after a 30-13 start and hired Doc Rivers, who proceeded to post a losing record the rest of the way. Milwaukee lost its first round series against the Indiana Pacers in six, with Giannis Antetokounmpo forced to watch helplessly from the sideline due to a nagging injury.

We can't necessarily blame the Bucks' postseason loss on Doc — the Pacers were dramatically healthier — but it's hard not to get antsy when projecting forward. Rivers was given an impossible task when taking over a contender midseason, as he will gladly tell you. It's hard to install principles and learn a new playbook on the fly. The Bucks should look more connected and effective once Rivers has a full offseason to work with the team.

Despite his reputation, Rivers isn't a bad coach. He offers a reasonably high floor. He's just not a great coach, too often defined by his reluctance to change. Factor in his maddening tendency to throw players under the bus and absolve himself of all responsibility in a loss, and the Bucks should really be thinking about what's next. Rivers clearly was not the magic solution the front office desired, and it's unclear how much better the "cohesive" version of this Bucks team is under the longtime head coach.

Ty Lue is more in line with what this aging, injury-plagued group needs. Lue has consistently elevated the Clippers in the face of injuries, maximizing mismatched parts and overwhelming opposing coaches with his schematic adaptability. Lue is a defensive genius and he's willing to try new things on offense all the time.

It would be much easier to think about the Bucks as contenders in the East with Lue at the helm. It could take a year or two, but Lue should be at the top of Milwaukee's wishlist moving forward.

2. Warriors could view Ty Lue as Steve Kerr's successor

It's worth noting that Ty Lue and Steve Kerr are both signed to contracts that expire after the 2025-26 season. It feels borderline sacrilegious to broach the possibility of Kerr leaving the Golden State Warriors, but the Dubs' success over the past few years has been, well, limited.

Kerr is a beloved figure in Golden State, but his game plans feel a lot less bulletproof when he's working with a subpar roster. The Warriors have spent the last couple years toiling in the Play-In Tournament and moving more and more to the NBA fringe. Stephen Curry only has so much longer at the peak of his powers and Golden State's primary offseason motivations right now are financial — cutting costs, not improving the roster.

All that is to say that yes, there is a world in which Kerr's voice gets stale and the Warriors decide to move on once his contract expires. Or, maybe Kerr opts to move on. There are teams that will put together a godfather offer for the coach who engineered four championship runs.

Golden State will remain a prestigious franchise in a major West Coast market, however, so it's only natural for Kerr's successor to be another name of great import. Lue should have the optionality to avoid going to a losing situation — how good on the Warriors 1-2 years in the future? — but if Golden State and Kerr decide to part ways, money talks. Golden State has plenty of it, and coaching contracts don't impact the cap sheet.

It's worth keeping an eye on, at the very least. Lue is a better coach than Kerr, straight up. He can probably squeeze more out of Curry's twilight years and a makeshift roster. Just... store this away in the back of your mind.

1. Lakers are the obvious landing spot for Ty Lue, now or later

If the Clippers can't lock up Ty Lue, a move across town feels like the logical outcome. Obviously, the Los Angeles Lakers would love to get their hands on Lue right now — forget J.J. Redick or James Borrego. LeBron won a title with Lue, and there's no doubt that Lue can shape the Lakers' future after LeBron. It's a perfect partnership.

That said, odds are Lue is going to finish his current contract with the Clippers. Steve Ballmer is not going to gift wrap the best coach in the Western Conference for his in-town rivals. The Lakers' real chance at Lue probably arrives in the summer of 2026, which could align with LeBron's expected retirement. Is there still mutual interest if LeBron is out the door?

Several factors will determine the answer to that question, starting with who else is on the roster? Anthony Davis should outlast LeBron as a star-level centerpiece, but there's a difference between Davis as the 1A and a Lakers team that, say, trades for Donovan Mitchell or Trae Young. If Los Angeles is still equipped to compete and attract stars after LeBron leaves (and LA will always be equipped to attract stars), that makes it much easier to imagine a partnership with Lue.

The Lakers are the NBA's prestige franchise and, as a result, Los Angeles often gets first dibs on the league's top assets. The Lakers are about to hire a new head coach, probably one without much experience. As much as J.J. Redick inspires the imagination, it's not hard to picture the Lakers canning him after a couple rocky years to build around an established winner like Ty Lue in 2026.

In the end, Lue probably just inks an extension with the Clippers. He's already living the LA lifestyle. But, if it all goes south, the Lakers are absolutely waiting in the shadows, ready to pounce at the first hint of opportunity.