After speedy court and negotiations, Doc Rivers has signed a five-year deal to become the next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
Rivers’ deal with the Sixers came just three days after he parted ways with the LA Clippers. It also means he will return to the Atlantic division where he will be the main rival of the Boston Celtics, where he won the NBA title as coach in reverse 2009.
Sixers general manager Elton Brand reached out to Rivers and his agent Lonnie Cooper on Monday to get an interest in the Sixers job. Rivers was soon on a flight to Philadelphia where meetings with the brand, owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer on Wednesday had to move quickly towards multi-year deal negotiations.
Rivers take possession of a Sixers team that lost in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs and continue to consider changes to the roster that the brand decides to build around All-Stars Joel Embed and Ben Simmons.
Rivers was a late entry into the process that became more focused on former Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni.
Rivers with a roster, marketplace and organization were imaginative enough to sit along the Philadelphia hierarchy to fly along the west coast.
Rivers, 58, has two years left on her clippers contract, sources said, so she has a significant amount left, although there is usually a set faster agreement on a paid fee, if a new coach is hired So.
In the seven asons at the helm of the rivers, the Clippers went 356-208, winning their regular-season of 63.1% – the NBA’s fifth-ranked record and the best record by any team without a conference final.
The Clippers went 49-23 during the regular season, the fourth-highest record in franchise history, but took a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets, leading by 16, 19 and 12 points. The Western Conference Final Drought of the Franchise Reached 50 Years.
Rivers has been the Rivers coach of the Clippers ’five best regular seasons, but in potential playoff series-cleaning games with the Clippers it went 3-8, getting the worst mark by a single team coach.
Rivers is ranked 11th so far by a 943-winning head coach of his career.
Seekers assistant coach Kevin Young was also interviewed for the head coaching job and made a strong impression on the organization, sources said.
The Sixers also visited Clippers assistant Tie Lu this week, sources said, but Lew is emerging as a strong candidate to replace Rivers with Clippers. The Clippers are planning to interview other candidates soon, sources said.
The New Orleans Pelicans are also considering visiting Lu in the near future, sources said. Basketball Operations L.U. and Pelicans Executive VP of Operations. Ga has ties to David Griffin, especially working together to win the NBA title in Cleveland in 2016.
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