Doc Rivers, Clippers Reportedly Closing in on Contract Extension

Heading into the last season of his contract, head coach Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers likely had to make a decision this offseason: separate or commit long-term to one another.

It appears they've done the latter.

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times reported the Clippers are poised to ink Rivers to a "multiyear" extension that will keep him on for a likely rebuilding process.

Rivers, 56, has been the Clippers' coach each of the last five seasons. The team made the playoffs in his first four years but was 42-40 in 2017-18 amid massive roster upheaval. The Clippers traded Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets last June and Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons in January.

DeAndre Jordan, who was the last remaining member of their former Big Three, will be a free agent this summer (assuming he opts out of the last year of his contract). Though stranger things have happened—the Clips re-signed Griffin last July, only to trade him months later—Jordan seems unlikely to stay.

"It feels like the start of something," Rivers said. "I feel like we're on a level playing field, not only on the floor, but off the floor. Steve understands what it takes to make an organization solid, he wants to do the right thing."

The Clippers will likely have two lottery picks in the 2018 draft, their own and that of the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons' pick conveys to Los Angeles if it falls outside the top four.

Some could easily draw a through line here from Rivers' decision to leave the Boston Celtics and his situation in Los Angeles now. Like the Clippers, the Celtics were headed for a prolonged revamping effort after breaking apart their group of veteran leaders. Rather than stick around for that rebuild, Rivers nudged his way to the Clippers via trade.

It appears he's willing to stick this one out.