Ty Lue is coach of the Clippers
Ty Lue is now coach of the LA Clippers
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00:00 The Los Angeles Clippers and Ty Lue have agreed to a five-year deal to make Lue the team's
00:05 next head coach.
00:07 Joining me now for more on this is SI's writer Chris Mannix.
00:10 Chris, the Clippers decided to stay in-house and hire Ty Lue, who served as Doc's assistant
00:15 last year.
00:16 Was familiarity with the organization and the players a main factor in this decision?
00:22 I think it was a significant one.
00:24 I mean, Ty Lue is one of the most appealing coaching candidates on the market for any
00:30 team.
00:31 There was some interest from the Philadelphia 76ers before the Sixers went with Doc Rivers.
00:35 The Houston Rockets interviewed and spoke to Ty Lue and there was some momentum to go
00:40 after even harder, to go after him even harder.
00:43 But for the Clippers, it just made a lot of sense.
00:46 Not only is Ty an excellent coach with championship experience, but he does have that familiarity
00:51 with the roster.
00:52 And you can't understate the importance of next season with this L.A. Clippers team.
00:58 They've got two players in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard who can opt out of their contracts
01:03 after next season.
01:05 You have to hit the ground running with this team and bring in a new coach that might have
01:09 a completely unfamiliar system just didn't make a lot of sense for the Clippers.
01:14 Now Ty certainly has his own system, his own tweaks to what Doc Rivers did, but there will
01:20 be some symmetry there.
01:21 There will be some carryover to what Doc Rivers did.
01:24 I think that'll make it a lot easier for the Clippers to acclimate to a new coach early.
01:28 All right, let's talk about additional acclimations possibly.
01:32 Chauncey Billups, he is expected to join Lue Staff as an assistant.
01:37 He was a candidate for the Pacers job though, so how does this affect Indiana's search with
01:42 him potentially off the market?
01:45 Well at least for the Clippers, in Chauncey Billups you have another strong voice in that
01:50 locker room and that's a team that is a challenging locker room at the very least.
01:56 And having Billups there is a real presence and I think a boost for that team.
01:59 As far as the Pacers go, I think Billups was a long shot for that job.
02:04 If he thought he had an opportunity there, I think he would have waited it out.
02:08 I think the Pacers, I think their top option is most likely Mike D'Antoni still.
02:13 I mean Mike D'Antoni is arguably the most accomplished coach still on the market.
02:19 His style of play would probably make some sense with guys like Victor Oladipo on that
02:24 team, Miles Turner on that team.
02:26 The question I think is going to be, will Indiana pay the freight?
02:30 Mike D'Antoni is no longer with Houston in part because he couldn't agree to a contract
02:35 extension before this season.
02:37 I don't think he's going to take a significant discount with Indiana and the Pacers historically
02:42 have not really been a team that likes to spend a ton of money on their head coach.
02:47 So I think Mike D'Antoni is a strong candidate for that job.
02:51 I'm just not sure if they'll be able to bring him in.
02:53 All right, well still some question marks around the Pacers, but Ty Lue is the head
02:58 coach for Los Angeles.
02:59 Thank you so much for joining me, Chris.
03:01 Appreciate it.
03:01 Thank you.
03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]