- The Pacers haven’t ruled out a potential return for All-star forward Domantas Sabonis, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. Sabonis has been sidelined with plantar fasciitis and not played a single game in Orlando. This season, the 6’11 forward is averaging 18.5 PPG and 12.5 RPG.
12:01pm: It’s official, according to a team press release. McMillan has been extended for one additional year, through the 2021/22 NBA season, per J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star.
7:17am: The Pacers have reached an agreement on a contract extension with head coach Nate McMillan, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Monetary terms of the new deal aren’t yet known, but McMillan previously had one year left on his contract. According to Wojnarowski, the two sides finalized the new agreement in recent days.
It was just last week that rumors surfaced about McMillan’s job security, with ESPN analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe noting on a podcast that they had heard whispers about the veteran head coach being on the hot seat. At the time, Lowe stressed that the Pacers had been consistent in denying those rumors — based on today’s news, it seems the team was serious about sticking with McMillan.
The former head coach of the SuperSonics and Trail Blazers, McMillan took over the top job in Indiana in 2016, receiving a promotion to replace Frank Vogel after spending three years as an assistant on Vogel’s staff.
McMillan has guided the Pacers to a 181-136 (.571) record over the last four seasons, earning four consecutive playoff berths. Indiana’s 43-28 (.606) mark this season represents the club’s highest winning percentage since 2013/14.
The Pacers haven’t yet won a playoff series under McMillan, and there had been some chatter about a need to modernize the team’s offense, which ranks last this season in three-point attempts per game (27.8).
However, as Wojnarowski notes in his report, the 56-year-old is well-respected around the NBA and has been lauded in recent years for maximizing the Pacers’ roster despite losing star forward Paul George – who requested a trade in 2017 – and dealing with a handful of major injuries, including the torn quad tendon that sidelined Victor Oladipo for a full year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- Pacers forward T.J. Warren has seen stellar results with Indiana as a de facto power forward during the NBA’s Orlando restart. Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer wonders if this could give way to the team becoming more amenable to trading one of its two big men, Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner.
During a conversation about the Pacers on an episode of The Lowe Post podcast, ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe said they’ve both heard chatter about the possibility that Nate McMillan could be on the hot seat in Indiana (hat tip to Alex Golden of PacersTalk.net).
“I had two people come up to me since I’ve been here (in Orlando) and say, ‘Nate McMillan’s in trouble,'” Van Gundy said.
“It’s been the hottest rumor all season,” Lowe replied. “… What you’ve heard in Orlando’s been going around all season.”
Indiana hasn’t won a playoff series under McMillan, and there has been some chatter about a need to modernize the team’s offense, which ranks last this season in three-point attempts per game (27.7). Still, the two ESPN analysts pointed out that the Pacers have exceeded expectations in recent years, especially given the injuries they’ve had to deal with. And Lowe cautioned that there has been no confirmation the Pacers are seriously considering a change.
“Let me be clear: It’s just a rumor,” Lowe said. “I don’t know if it’s true. When you talk to people around the Pacers, they say, ‘It’s not true’ or ‘Where you’d hear that from?’ … I think Nate’s earned the benefit of the doubt.”
Let’s round up a few more Pacers-related items…
- In addition to helping the Pacers pick up wins during this summer’s restart, T.J. Warren‘s huge games in Orlando are showing that he’s a crucial part of the team’s future, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com, who notes that the 26-year-old’s prime years line up well with the rest of Indiana’s core.
- Pacers rookie Goga Bitadze, who returned to action this week, acknowledged today that his left knee has been an issue almost all season (Twitter link via J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star). “(After the hiatus), it hurt me a lot more,” Bitadze said. “I basically couldn’t run… It’s hard for me to get back ready to play.” However, after undergoing an MRI, the big man was told by team doctors that the soreness isn’t a serious issue, so it sounds like he probably won’t need offseason surgery, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.
- In case you missed it on Thursday, we passed along word that ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan walked back her claim that Larry Bird left his job as president of basketball operations in Indiana because he was frustrated by the team’s reluctance to spend.
De’Aaron Fox becomes eligible for his rookie scale extension this offseason and he’s strengthening his case for a high-end offer. Even though the Kings lost their first three games during the restart, their potent point guard averaged 26.7 PPG and 6.0 APG, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area notes. He followed that up with a 30-point, 10-assist outing in the Kings’ victory over the Pelicans on Thursday.
“I definitely feel confident that we’re seeing what kind of player we’re going to have here as the future plays out,” Kings coach Luke Walton said of Fox.
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- T.J. Warren‘s explosive scoring has been one of the biggest stories of the restart. The Suns traded him to the Pacers last offseason in a salary dump but Warren claims to harbor no grudges against his former team, as IndianaSportsCoverage.com relays. “I don’t have no ill blood between anybody,” he said. “I’m just fortunate enough to be doing what I’m doing, playing basketball at the highest level. With me, it’s all love.” Warren has two years and $24.5MM remaining on his contract, which is increasingly looking like a bargain.
- Dion Waiters has been getting steady playing time with the Lakers as Rajon Rondo mends from a thumb injury, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register notes. Waiters is averaging 10 PPG during the restart despite shooting poorly from 3-point range. “Situation like that, you just try to take full advantage of it ’til Rondo get back and things like that,” Waiters said. The enigmatic guard was signed by the Lakers for the remainder of the season just prior to the suspension of play in March.
- Clippers guard Lou Williams took a lot of flack for visiting an Atlanta strip club after temporarily leaving the Orlando campus and he admits to making a bad decision, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. “It’s been documented how much I talk about this place, how much I eat there,” Williams said of Magic City. “I just did something that was routine for me. … At the time, I thought I was making a responsible decision. After looking back on it, with everything going on in the world, the pandemic, maybe it wasn’t the best-quality decision.” Williams is back in action after clearing quarantine.
After suggesting recently on a podcast that former Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird stepped down from that position because of the team’s unwillingness to spend, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan has walked back that claim.
“I misspoke when I expressed my opinion regarding the business practices of the Indiana Pacers, and inferred that Larry Bird had been frustrated during his time as team president,” MacMullan said in a statement relayed by the Pacers. “It was a careless remark, based solely on my opinion, and therefore should have never been said. Larry Bird never expressed those feelings to me, and I apologize to both Larry and team owner Herb Simon for poor choice of my words.”
Bird issued a statement of his own, further confirming that his departure from the top job in the Pacers’ front office didn’t stem from frustration about the club’s spending habits.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Bird said. “I want everyone to know I left there because it was time for me to move on from the Pacers.”
- Numerous full-time Pacers Sports and Entertainment employees have been laid off due to a decline in revenue resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrew Smith of TheIndyChannel.com relays. The franchise did not specify how many employees were let go. “While we have been able to avoid impacts to our full-time staff during the last four months, the continued uncertainty of a return to fully-attended events have regrettably made further steps unavoidable,” Rick Fuson, president and COO of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, said in a statement.
1:32pm: Oladipo has officially been ruled out for Monday’s game, while Brogdon will be active, tweets Agness.
10:45am: Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has been listed as doubtful to play in Monday’s game against the Wizards, as Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports tweets. Oladipo continues to rehab the quad tendon injury that he returned from earlier this year.
The fact that Oladipo isn’t expected to suit up against Washington shouldn’t be a cause for concern for Pacers fans. Indiana is also scheduled to play on Tuesday vs. Orlando, and even after the All-Star guard changed his mind about sitting out the restart, there was an expectation that he wouldn’t play in both halves of the team’s lone back-to-back set. Sitting on Monday should mean that Oladipo is good to go on Tuesday.
Oladipo, who announced a month ago today that he would opting out of the restart this summer, reconsidered that position after accompanying the Pacers to Orlando and responding well in practices. He logged 32 minutes in the club’s win over Philadelphia on Saturday, putting up 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-14 shooting.
Meanwhile, Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon, who missed that game against the Sixers due to a neck injury, is listed as questionable for Monday’s contest vs. Washington, Agness notes. If Brogdon isn’t able to return today, he seems likely to do so soon.
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Thunder head coach Billy Donovan have been voted the co-coaches of the year by the National Basketball Coaches Association, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
This award, introduced in 2017, isn’t the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, which is voted on by media members and is represented by the Red Auerbach Trophy. The winner of that award is expected to be announced at some point during the postseason this summer.
The Coaches Association’s version of the award – named after longtime NBCA executive director Michael H. Goldberg – is voted on by the NBA’s 30 head coaches, none of whom can vote for himself.
Budenholzer, who also won the NBCA’s award in 2019, has had even more success with the East-leading Bucks this season. His team has a 54-13 record and – before the season was suspended – had been on pace to surpass the 60 victories that last year’s Milwaukee squad racked up.
As for Donovan, he has exceeded expectations with a Thunder team that was viewed as a borderline playoff contender and a candidate for a full-fledged rebuild. Instead of returning to the lottery following the offseason departures of Russell Westbrook and Paul George, Oklahoma City is 41-24, good for sixth in the Western Conference. A strong finish over the next couple weeks could result in a top-four record in the conference for the Thunder.
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, widely viewed as the favorite to win the official Coach of the Year award in 2020, was one vote away from finishing in a three-way tie with Budenholzer and Donovan, per Wojnarowski.
Sources tell ESPN that Taylor Jenkins (Grizzlies), Nate McMillan (Pacers), Erik Spoelstra (Heat), and Brad Stevens (Celtics), and Frank Vogel (Lakers) also received votes.
With most of the NBA’s top scorers gathered in Orlando, it’s somewhat surprising that T.J. Warren has the highest single-game total so far. After the Pacers forward exploded for a career-best 53 points in Saturday’s win over the Sixers, teammates told Eric Woodyard of ESPN they have always recognized what a dangerous shooter he can be.
“T.J. Warren been scoring his whole life. Since his AAU days to N.C. State,” Victor Oladipo said. “He’s been a scorer since as long as I’ve known him. I’ve known him for a long time. … He was born to get buckets, so it’s no surprise to any of us that he was able to do what he did tonight. It’s great to have him on our team. It was amazing to watch, and we’re all happy for him. That was incredible. Things like that don’t happen often.”
With Oladipo sidelined for most of the season, Warren has emerged as the leading scorer on a team that needed a boost on offense. Indiana picked him up cheaply in a three-team trade last offseason, sending cash to the Suns and second-round pick KZ Okpala to the Heat in exchange for Warren and three future second-round picks.
“It doesn’t matter the environment, you’ve just got to come with it every game,” Warren said. “Every game I feel anxious and nervous at the same time, but it’s full of excitement. Tonight was one of those special nights.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Despite being a game-time decision, Oladipo played nearly 32 minutes Saturday and scored 15 points. However, the Pacers guard explained to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files that his status hasn’t changed. “It’s a day-to-day thing,” Oladipo said. “I wish I could tell y’all I’m going to play all eight games, but again, I can’t say that. I have to take it one day at a time. I’m sorry, but at the end of the day, I don’t want to say one thing and do another thing because you know how you guys acted the first time I did that.”
- Bulls center Cristiano Felicio may be fighting for his future in the NBA next season, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. Felicio, who appeared in just 22 games this year, will be entering the final season of a four-year, $32MM contract.
- Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press examines the status of the G League’s Grand Rapids Drive now that the Pistons have an agreement to buy the Northern Arizona franchise from the Suns.