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The Los Angeles Clippers have now added Tyronn Lue to their coaching staff.
As if the Clippers didn’t have a good enough offseason with the additions of All-NBA players in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, they just added another big name to their payroll with the hiring of Lue as an assistant coach, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Former Cavaliers championship coach Ty Lue has agreed on deal to join the Los Angeles Clippers as the top assistant coach on Doc Rivers’ staff, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
Advertising— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 21, 2019
Tyronn Lue Should Have Been Lakers Head Coach
To add further spice to the storyline, Lue had been close to signing a deal to become the Los Angeles Lakers‘ new head coach earlier in the offseason, only for the deal to fall apart due to a disagreement on contract terms. The Lakers just so happen to play in the same city as the Clippers and represent their biggest roadblock towards winning their first NBA championship.
Lue is best known for his tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he led the franchise to their lone title in its history when.they defeated the Golden State Warriors in seven games in the 2016 NBA Finals. While Lue led the franchise to three consecutive Finals appearances between 2016 and 2018, a rough 0-6 start at the beginning of the 2018-19 season led to his firing.
Tyronn Lue’s History With Doc Rivers
The 42-year-old Lue compiled a 128-83 overall record as a head coach with the Cavaliers, but his connection with Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is what is key here. Prior to his run as a Cavaliers coach, Lue began his coaching career as an assistant with the Rivers-led Boston Celtics teams from 2011 until 2013. Following Rivers’ hiring in 2013, Lue followed his mentor to coach the Clippers during the 2013-14 season.
Following his dismissal as Cavaliers coach, Lue quickly latched onto an unofficial, advisory role with the Clippers in the midst of the 2018-19 season. Rivers had stated back in March that Lue was already starting to miss being a coach on the sidelines, via Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.
“He’s actually had a good time,” Rivers said last March. “But he wants to get back in, for sure.”
The Clippers are already projected as the betting favorites to win the 2020 NBA Finals, according to Odds Shark. The Lakers are a close second with LeBron James returning and Anthony Davis and new head coach Frank Vogel in the fold.
With Rivers — a former NBA champion himself as the head coach of the 2008 Celtics — Lue, reigning NBA champion and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and runner-up in Defensive Player of the Year voting Paul George, there’s no reason to believe the Clippers shouldn’t be the team to beat in the Western Conference.
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Follow D.J. Siddiqi on Twitter @DJSiddiqi