He's gotten better, I wouldn't consider him a bad coach anymore, but he's not exactly as good as some of these posters are making out. He' not on the Malone, Spo level of coaches, nor is he in like Stevens (when he coached), Hardy, and Finch who actually create solid tactics and gameplans which create a level of consistency.
He's a Third tier coach in a league that has had a massive increase in coaching talent over the last few years. I think we're so used to half the league having deadbeats at the helm, that this has gotten lost in the shuffle for a lot of people who still think guys like Vaugn and Clifford are the norm. They aren't, so to be considered a great coach you legit have to be a great coach these days. If you are a playoff team, you probably have a solid coach, and even teams that didn't make the PO you still have a decent coach like Donavan,Jenkins, Ime, Pop, and Hardy.
I think compared to his peers, he's rally not that good, and like most coaches think he's situational. It's hilarious that his mentor was Doc Rivers, because that's exactly the type of coach he is. One that does more by relating to his guys, and putting them where they want to be and hoping for the best. Unlike Doc, Lue actually has the ability to make some in game adjustments and feel the game, while not at an elite level, is still something a lot of bad coaches don't do.
Lue is that coach who, again like Doc, is going to bounce around the league and be a staple for 20 years, and will always be middle of the pack. Just like Doc, he'll always seem better than he actually is because of the injury excuses (TMac/KG vs Kawhi), and live off of having ATG's win him a ring.
He won't be able to coach a team that isn't already contending, but isn't ever going to be the best coach to take on that mantle.
These types of coaches are actually extremely valuable, like he showed 2 years ago, and Doc showed in ORL, because they are the perfect bridge coaches for teams looking to make the jump, but aren't the guy you want at the helm when you finally do. The Sccott Brooks conundrum of the 2010's essentially.
He's in the Mike Brown tier of coaches right now, but I would still rather have Mike, another guy who I commend for learning from his mistakes and improving at every stop.
Spo, Malone, Finch, Kerr, Hardy, Donavon, Ime, Jenkins, Budz,Thibs, Nurse, Carlise, Daignault, and Pop are all clearly better coaches than him either by X&O's, game management, or both.
I wouldn't say they are clearly better, but I personally would prefer if Brown, 2nd row Joe, and Vogal were my teams coach if contending.
The other coaches are either too new to form a legit opinion like Mosely, Jordi, or Raja. Or just very similar to Lue in Ham, Green, Monty, Kidd and Doc.
He's only a clearly better coach than Cliff who was fired, Ham, Chauncey, JB who is getting fired, and...that's it.
Not a knock on Lue, I just think people under estimate how much talent is now in the NBA coachig circles. I mean two A level coaches in Stevens and Budz aren't even coaching right now
