Gregg Popovich Reportedly Expected to Sign New 3-Year Contract with Spurs

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is expected to sign a three-year deal once he formally commits to return to the sideline, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowksi added the extension would keep Popovich as the highest-paid coach in the league.

While a multi-year contract would give Popovich the ability to coach beyond 2019-20, Wojnarowski noted the 70-year-old coach would continue to go on a year-to-year basis.

That comes one day after he joked with reporters about ongoing negotiations with the team, via The Athletic's Jabari Young:

"I'm currently in negotiations and could very well end up with either the Portofino Flyers or the Positano Pirates (or the Spurs)," Popovich joked. "I think it's like one-third Positano, one-third Portofino and one-third San Antonio. So, we'll see where I end up."

Popovich has spent his entire NBA head-coaching career in San Antonio, taking over back in 1996. He has compiled a 1,245-575 record in 23 seasons, recording the third-most wins in league history. He sits 87 victories behind Lenny Wilkens for second and 90 behind Don Nelson for first.

He owns a 170-114 record in 22 postseason appearances and has won five NBA titles. San Antonio had zero championships in 20 NBA seasons prior to Popovich's arrival.

The Spurs have not won fewer than 47 games in a non-strike-shortened season since Popovich's first year on the job, earning 22 consecutive playoff berths along the way.

Popovich has been named the NBA Coach of the Year three times in his career.

When asked back in January if he would coach beyond the 2018-19 campaign, Popovich responded, "I don't know." Spurs team president R.C. Buford made it clear, though, that the organization will let the legendary coach decide when to call it a career, per the New York Times' Marc Stein: "He'll coach as long as he wants to coach."

Popovich was hired as the head coach of USA Basketball in 2015, a role he would move into following the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is expected to coach Team USA at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, with Wojnarowski writing in June 2018 that "few in [Popovich's] orbit" expect him to coach beyond that point.