After months of speculation, Tyronn Lue is finally headed to Los Angeles to resume his coaching career. However, he won't be reuniting with LeBron James and the Lakers.
According to the New York Times' Marc Stein, Lue is "closing in" on a deal join the Los Angeles Clippers as Doc Rivers' top assistant. Lue, 42, previously worked with Rivers in Boston, as well as one season with the Clippers in 2013-14, before he took over as the Cleveland Cavs head coach.
Lue was considered to be the top candidate to take over as the Lakers head coach after they fired Luke Walton, but the negotiations went south and he ultimately withdrew his name from consideration. According to Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill, the Lakers wanted to force Lue to bring on Kurt Rambis as an assistant, which he wasn't interested in.
In addition to Lue's resistance to hiring the Lakers' preferred assistants, he was also "insulted" that the team only offered him a three-year, $18 million deal. According to a report by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin, Lue's camp was seeking a five-year deal with a salary commensurate with a championship résumé.
Now, he'll get the opportunity to help prevent LeBron and the Lakers from winning an NBA title.