Ty Lue shoots down Lakers rumors, says he wants to remain with the Clippers

After exiting the playoffs at the hands of the Mavs, Ty Lue addressed the reports linking him to the Lakers coaching job, stating he wants to remain with the Clippers.

The short-lived time imaging Ty Lue as the next Lakers head coach is effectively over. After being bounced out of the first round by the Mavericks in Game 6 on Friday, Lue spoke postgame and definitively shot down the rumors linking him to the hallway rivals.

Lue stated he both wanted to remain with the Clippers and did not want to move franchises.

It was always a very long shot to land Lue. He’s under contract for next season, though according to Brad Turner of the LA Times, his contract for 2024-25 is both a team option and partially guaranteed.

At the same time, he also reported that there had not yet been extension talks.

Lue’s contract for next season is a team option and is partially guaranteed, according to one person. But there have been no talks about an extension, the person said.

That flies directly against the report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN earlier on Friday that the two sides seemed open to negotiating an extension. To be fair, both sides could be true in that no negotiations have started but both sides want an extension.

As for another part of that, Law Murray and Sam Amick of The Athletic confirmed that the Clippers final year of Lue’s deal had been guaranteed and that they blocked teams from talking to Lue last offseason.

The Clippers know they can’t upgrade on Lue. They didn’t extend him last offseason, though they guaranteed the last year of the five-year contract he signed in 2020 to succeed Doc Rivers as head coach. Other teams were blocked from talking to Lue. According to team sources, that would be the case again if teams attempt to pry him away this offseason. Lue has already been tied to the Lakers’ vacancy, and his stellar reputation as a title-winning coach means he’d likely be in the running for any job that becomes open.

Despite all of that, Lue’s comments seem pretty direct and pointed. While it doesn’t guarantee he’ll sign a new deal or be with the Clippers next season, it paints a pretty clear picture of what his desire is.

The Lakers might try one last push for Lue now that the Clippers season is officially over, but it likely signals the end of that, as well. Unless things quickly break down in talks between Lue and the Clippers, the Lakers are going to need to move on to get a new coach and staff in place before both the NBA Draft and the start of free agency.

All of this is going to have to move fast with Lue on all sides before the Lakers have to move on. But there may be nothing to move as it certainly seems as though Lue’s allegiances will remain with the Clippers and continual first round exits.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.