Pacers finalize deal to make Nate McMillan head coach
— -- The Indiana Pacers named Nate McMillan head coach on Monday, handing the reins to their associate head coach after firing Frank Vogel.
"I truly believe Nate is the right coach for us at this time," Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said in a statement. "When I heard he was interested, I got in touch with him, met with him and in our conversation I came away with all the confidence in the world in Nate to lead our franchise to where we want to go. His experience as a player, head coach and assistant coach in the NBA are valuable assets for us."
McMillan had held the associate head coach position for the last three years. The 51-year-old McMillan previously was head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers from 2005-12 and the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000-05.
His ties to Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard extend to their days in Portland, where Pritchard was GM from 2007 to '10.
"I want to thank Larry, Herb Simon and the Pacers for this opportunity, which is a great opportunity," McMillan said in the statement. "I've been around this franchise three years and understand what the expectations are and look forward to working hard to try to meet them. We have a good team and good base to build from. I'm very anxious to get started."
The Pacers chose not to renew Frank Vogel's contract last week after the team's Game 7 loss to the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.
McMillan also interviewed for the head-coaching job with the Sacramento Kings, who hired Dave Joerger earlier in the week.
Vogel had a 250-181 regular-season record and a 31-30 playoff record in six seasons as Pacers coach. In the 2015-16 regular season, the team averaged 102.2 points per game, which ranked 17th in the NBA. The Pacers scored 93.7 points per game in the playoffs, which was 12th out of 16 teams.
Bird has emphasized that he wants his team to play faster. McMillan, though, has a reputation as a defensive-minded coach.
McMillan played 10 years in the league, all with the Seattle SuperSonics, being named to the NBA's all-defensive team twice. The Sonics retired his No. 10.
McMillan takes over a team with growing expectations.
Indiana has been to the playoffs in five of the last six seasons, reached the 2013 and 2014 Eastern Conference finals and came within one win this season of advancing to the conference semifinals for the fourth time in five years.
McMillan will continue to build around Paul George, the 26-year-old three-time All-Star who played well in his first season back from a gruesome broken right leg.
He also will be able to work closely with promising forward Myles Turner, something that may have played a key part in Bird's selection. McMillan helped LaMarcus Aldridge go from promising rookie to All-Star in Portland, and the Pacers are hoping he can do the same thing with the former Texas star who was often compared to Aldridge after declaring early for last year's NBA draft.
"I think some of us coaches who were coaching at that time (2005), they called us old school and there is a lot of old school in me," McMillan said. "But I do understand you have to adapt with this generation of players, which we call the millennials, and how you communicate with them."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
