Clippers extend coach’s contract

Rewarding the coach who led them to their best season, the Clippers have reached agreement with Mike Dunleavy on a four-year contract extension for more than $21 million, The Times has learned.

Andy Roeser, Clippers executive vice president, and Dunleavy’s agent, Warren LeGarie, late last week finalized the framework of a package that will pay Dunleavy more than $5.3 million a season, multiple team sources said Monday. The Clippers have not announced the agreement because Roeser and LeGarie were still negotiating bonuses for Dunleavy tied to the team’s future playoff performances.

Dunleavy, 52, was in Sacramento with the Clippers on Monday preparing for the final game of a trip Tuesday against the Kings. Asked about his new contract, Dunleavy said he had hoped “something could be worked out because this is where I want to be, which is what I’ve said all along.”

Although the Clippers have privately expressed their determination to retain Dunleavy, the timing of the agreement surprised some in the organization because of the team’s recent disappointing play.

After a 6-2 start, the Clippers have lost four in row and are winless on the road (0-5) and have dropped the first two games on a three-game, five-day trip. In the past, owner Donald T. Sterling might have taken a wait-and-see approach in contract negotiations with his coach if the team was playing poorly, but Sterling has done things differently since Dunleavy arrived before the start of the 2003-04 season.

Hoping to maintain the team’s unprecedented stability in basketball operations, Sterling weeks ago instructed Roeser to get a deal done with LeGarie, sources said. Moreover, Sterling continued to show his willingness to spend in an attempt to win, elevating Dunleavy among the game’s highest-paid coaches with a base salary of close to the $6 million a season LeGarie initially proposed.

With a current salary of $2.5 million in a contract that expires after this season, Dunleavy has a below-market package for someone with his experience. And Dunleavy -- the 1999 NBA coach of the year -- has significant input in the Clippers’ player-personnel decisions, the primary reason Sterling was willing to increase his salary by about $4 million a season in the new contract.

Among other things, Dunleavy played a key role in persuading center Chris Kaman to sign a five-year, $52.5-million contract extension in October.

There had been speculation within the organization that Dunleavy might receive an additional title in a new contract, but sources said Dunleavy is fine with the Clippers’ current management structure and enjoys working with General Manager Elgin Baylor -- the 2005-06 NBA executive of the year.

Under Dunleavy, the Clippers’ victory total has increased each season. Last season, the Clippers had their highest victory total (47) since the team moved to California, set a franchise mark for road victories (20), made their first playoff appearance in nine seasons and won a postseason series for the first time in 30 years. They advanced to Game 7 of a Western Conference semifinals series against the Phoenix Suns.

The Clippers were 65-99 in Dunleavy’s first two seasons.

The Clippers had only five winning seasons and six playoff appearances in their previous 34 seasons, and hadn’t finished with at least a .500 record in more than a decade. Despite the team’s slow start this season, players recently said Dunleavy has done his part to keep the group together and focused.

“Mike definitely knows we have a better team than we’ve shown so far, and we know he has confidence in us,” Kaman said on the current trip. “We just have to keep doing the stuff he wants us to do, keep playing hard and executing better, and we’ll be fine.”

*

Center Chris Kaman could be sidelined at least two weeks because of a sprained left ankle, Dunleavy said Monday.

“That’s what it looks like, but that doesn’t mean how long it’s going to be,” Dunleavy said. Kaman has worn an air cast since he suffered the injury in practice Friday.

*

Point guard Sam Cassell sprained his left ankle in Sunday’s loss at Denver, so backup point guard Shaun Livingston is expected to start tonight against the Sacramento Kings.

Livingston is off to slow start and has struggled with his confidence, but Dunleavy said he’s sticking with the third-year player. “We’ve seen him do all the things we need him to do in spurts,” Dunleavy said.

*

TONIGHT

at Sacramento, 7, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Arco Arena.

Radio -- 1110.

Records -- Clippers 6-6, Kings 7-5.

Record vs. Kings (2005-06) -- 0-4.

Update -- The Clippers couldn’t pick a worse place to end a disappointing trip. They lost the first two games on the trip and have a 16-game losing streak here.

jason.reid@latimes.com