Sources: Popovich expected to sign 3-year deal

Once Gregg Popovich formally commits to return for his 24th season as San Antonio Spurs coach, he’s expected to sign a three-year contract that will keep him as the highest-paid coach in the NBA, league sources told ESPN.

A Popovich contract extension has been a foregone conclusion for months, but the deal won’t change the fact that he will continue taking his coaching future on a year-to-year basis, league sources said. Spurs ownership believes he’s entitled to manage his future how he wishes, sources said.

Popovich, 70, told reporters on Monday that he was negotiating a new contract and suggested that he would see them again in the fall. His five-year contract ended with the Spurs’ Game 7 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first-round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Popovich will coach Team USA in the FIBA World Cup in China in September and in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. There’s a belief that he could use the Olympics as a final coaching act, but that remains unclear.

Popovich has 1,245 victories, third on the all-time list behind Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkens. He’s won five NBA championships as Spurs coach, including a league-record streak of 22 consecutive years in the NBA playoffs.