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After an absolute roller-coaster of a season, the LA Clippers have entered this summer the same way they entered last summer: with a lot of question marks about the future.
Will DeAndre Jordan opt into the final year of his deal, sign a contract extension, or opt out and test free agency? Will Austin Rivers test free agency? After an extraordinary season coaching, will head coach Doc Rivers be back, will he be relieved of his duties, or will he be offered an extension? Those are just three of the major questions that everyone wanted to know the answer to, and it looks like we have one of those today.
According to Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and coach Doc Rivers have reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension that will keep Rivers in Los Angeles for the next couple of years.
Although nothing has been made official, all indications are that Rivers and Ballmer have reached an agreement on a multiyear extension that will keep Rivers here for a remodeling job that will begin soon.
Rivers coached the Clippers to a 42-40 record in the 2017-18 season despite an enormous amount of injuries to Patrick Beverley, Danilo Gallinari, Milos Teodosic, and Blake Griffin, as well as the two major separate trades that sent away franchise stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets during the summer of 2017 in exchange for Beverley, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Sam Dekker. Griffin was traded, along with Willie Reed and Brice Johnson, for Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Avery Bradley.
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The Clippers started over 35 different lineups this season thanks to the injuries that eventually proved insurmountable as they pursued a postseason berth. With all that they were going through, many expected them to bow out of playoff contention by March, but Doc Rivers' gritty bunch fought night-in and night-out, making Clippers fans proud.
Ballmer, who purchased the team in 2014 for a whopping $2 billion, is still learning the ways of the NBA, including the fact that a coach of Rivers' caliber needs to have talks about a contract extension before his final season.
On the other end, owner Steve Ballmer sounded uncertain why somebody who had a contract would need an extension.
“The other thing I'm really just learning about the NBA is that in a regular business, a five-year contract is a five-year contract and you talk about the sixth year after the fifth year,” Ballmer said. “That doesn't seem to be the protocol in the NBA.”
The return of Rivers might be the first big step the Clippers needed towards getting back on track as a contender. They'll have two lottery picks in this summer's NBA Draft, and they could end up bringing DeAndre Jordan back as well for an extended run with the only team he's ever played for.
