Ballmer and West eventually came to terms on a two-year deal. “If he still wants to do it, we can go beyond that,” Ballmer said. “Now that I know him better, I can’t see him retiring.”

Neither can West.

“I’m not a person that does very well when I don’t have a reason to get up in the morning,” he said.

West admitted he also badly needs the nine-mile drive into the Clippers’ offices in Playa Vista for his own psyche, even though he has been part of eight N.B.A. championships as an executive. He typically stays no more than a couple of hours, but merely being able to make frequent visits to the team’s nerve center — not an option when he was a Southern California-based consultant to the Warriors — is, he said, “rejuvenating.”

“His mood is so determined by work,” said his son Jonnie West, an executive with the Warriors who, along with his older brother Ryan West of the Lakers, followed his father into front-office life. “I think he really enjoys the situation he’s in. It gives him a puzzle that needs figuring out.”

The Clippers finished 10th in the West this season, five games out of a playoff berth, but have high hopes after posting a 42-40 record in spite of their steady stream of injuries. They acquired the promising forward Tobias Harris and the defensive specialist Avery Bradley in the Griffin deal, along with Detroit’s first-round pick in June, and can start plotting for the future in earnest after Tuesday night’s lottery results.

West, for his part, is convinced that “the mountain is not that high for this team if we make the right moves” under Ballmer and Frank’s leadership.

“Frankly, this is Lawrence’s first foray into running a front office — and he’s fantastic,” Ballmer said. “But who can’t learn from Jerry West about that? He’s kind of the master. So we all get the chance to learn from the master.”