Sources: Lue still under old assistant coach deal

8:28 PM ET

CLEVELAND — As the Cavaliers prepare to face the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the playoffs, head coach Tyronn Lue continues to guide the team without having signed a new contract since taking over for David Blatt, multiple sources said this week.

Lue, 38, was promoted from associate head coach to Blatt’s successor on Jan. 22, with Cleveland general manager David Griffin parting ways with Blatt despite the team’s conference-best 30-11 record at the time. Even without a new contract being signed, Lue never had an interim title attached to his position, however.

Editor’s PicksLue: Blatt ‘deserves another chance’ to coach

David Blatt “definitely deserves another chance” to coach in the NBA, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said of his former boss on Thursday.

Since then, Lue has led Cleveland to a 27-14 mark in the second half of the season and a 4-0 sweep of the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs’ first round.

Lue was already the league’s top-paid assistant coach when he was added to Blatt’s staff in the summer of 2014, signing a four-year deal worth a total of $6.5 million. The Cavs and Lue’s representatives came to a verbal agreement on a renegotiated deal that would pay him $3 million prorated for 2015-16 and $3 million next season, with a team option for a third year at $3.5 million with a buyout, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported in January.

There were no performance standards or stipulations that Lue would have to meet in order to make the verbal agreement remain valid after the season, a source familiar with the negotiations …

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