Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro’s contract expires at the end of June after the team reportedly chose to put off extension talks before the season. (Rocky Widner/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Clippers will take “about a week” to decide whether to bring back head coach Vinny Del Negro, whose contract expires at the end of June, according to ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelbourne.

The team had preliminary discussions with Del Negro about a contract extension before the season, but “tabled them indefinitely,” the report states.

Although longtime Lakers coach Phil Jackson is often mentioned as a possible replacement, the Clippers hiring Jackson is unlikely because his relationship with Lakers executive Jeanie Buss would make the situation “too creepy,” a source told Shelbourne.

The Clippers are 128-102 with two playoff appearances in Del Negro’s three seasons in L.A., but the team has endured two disappointing postseason exits since acquiring star point guard Chris Paul.

[Jenkins: Clippers' first-round loss opens door to uncertain future for Chris Paul]

From the report:

“That’s what it was last year, too,” Del Negro said after the game. The Clippers had a team option on him after last season as well.

“So I just go about my business. I think my staff has done a fantastic job. I give them a ton of credit. Players. You’ve got to deal with a lot of things when you’re in this position, but I enjoy it.

“It’s something that I want to do, not something I have to do. I enjoy it, I enjoy the competition, I enjoy seeing guys develop and come together as a team. A lot of things are thrown at you, that’s for sure, but I love the challenge of it.”

Clippers sources insist no decision has been made on Del Negro yet and that this early playoff exit won’t be the only basis upon which he’s judged. The team won a franchise-record 56 games this season and Del Negro has always had a good relationship with the team’s ownership.

Neil Olshey drafted Blake Griffin and was the architect of the Clippers team that advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs this year. He will move to Portland as the Blazers’ new GM. (Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Neil Olshey has agreed to become the next general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers, after reportedly spurning an offer from the Los Angeles Clippers to remain with the team at the same position.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Olshey and the Clippers had mutually agreed to part ways earlier Monday. Olshey was instrumental in the team’s overhaul last offseason that brought point guard Chris Paul to Los Angeles.

The Clippers finished 40-26 this season for the best winning percentage in franchise history, falling in the second round of the NBA Playoffs to the San Antonio Spurs.

Olshey was given a big part of the credit for that. In the same week he pulled off the trade for Paul, Olshey signed point guard Chauncey Billups and forward Caron Butler and matched an offer sheet for restricted free agent center DeAndre Jordan. Olshey also drafted Blake Griffin and guard Eric Gordon.

Head coach Vinny Del Negro, director of player personnel Gary Sacks and president Andy Roeser will be in charge of the team’s basketball operations while the team searches for a new general manager.

The Times reported that Olshey, who did not have a contract all of last season with the Clippers, recently met with Blazers owner Paul Allen in London to discuss the GM position.

Olshey inherits one of the youngest rosters in the NBA in the Blazers. Portland finished eight games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference this season.

Clippers Vinny Del Negro will return next season. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBA/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Clippers announced they will retain coach Vinny Del Negro after guiding the team to the second round of the NBA playoffs this season, reports ESPN.com. The Clippers exercised the final year of his contract option and had until June 1 to make a decision.

Del Negro is 154-158 in four seasons as an NBA coach, including the last two seasons with Clippers.

The Clippers went 40-26 this season before being swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals, making the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-2006 season.

The Clippers also had a six-game winning streak this season, their longest in 20 years.

We’ve already seen one playoff-bound NBA team get rid of its coach midseason in the New York Knicks, and a second one might not be far off. The Los Angeles Clippers may be running out of patience with head coach Vinny Del Negro, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.

“Vinny has lost the team,” one source told Broussard. “They don’t want to play hard for him.”

The Clippers have gone into a freefall since losing Chauncey Billups to a season-ending Achilles injury — they’ve lost 11 of their last 18 games. They were once riding high at No. 3 in the Western Conference, but they’ve since slipped into a tie for fifth in a very tight playoff race. Another couple of losses could leave them out of the postseason entirely.

Del Negro is in the final guaranteed season of his contract, with the Clippers holding a team option for next season. But they may try to ax the head coach even sooner — a majority of the players in the Clips’ locker room reportedly believe the time for change is now. They cite the uncertainty of the team’s rotation as a major concern.

The Clippers take on the New Orleans Hornets tonight, looking to avoid their third straight loss.