Nate McMillan Rumors | Hoops Rumors

More On Clippers-Doc Rivers Breakup

September 28th, 2020 at 8:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers’ decision to part ways with Doc Rivers could be the riskiest coaching change in NBA history, Kevin Pelton of ESPN opines. The team is rolling the dice with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George potentially opting out and becoming unrestricted free agents after next season. L.A.’s collapse against the Nuggets can be attributed to poor shooting, Pelton adds, as the Clippers took higher percentage shots than the Nuggets but made substantially fewer of them.

We have more on Rivers and the Clippers:

The Clippers’ front office concluded that issues that had cropped up during the season surfaced under the stress of the playoffs, Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports. That led to the assessment that Rivers had to be held accountable for the team’s collapse.
By severing ties with Rivers, the Clippers indeed are blaming him for their playoff flop, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated opines. Could Phil Jackson be the answer? Jackson is 75 but he’s had time to recharge his batteries and this wouldn’t be a long-term job anyway, Mannix notes.
Tyronn Lue and Jeff Van Gundy are reportedly two of the former head coaches the Clippers will consider. Dan Loumena of the Los Angeles Times speculates that the Clippers might also consider assistant coach Sam Cassell, Chauncey Billups, Mark Jackson, Stan Van Gundy, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Kenny Atkinson, Alvin Gentry, Jason Kidd and Becky Hammon.
Lue is the 3-2 favorite to get the job, according to Bet Online, Adam Zagoria of the New York Times tweets. Van Gundy is the second choice at 3-1 with Billups surprisingly listed as the third choice at 4-1.
Add the Rockets to the list of teams interested in Rivers, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The Pelicans and 76ers have already made contact.

Kevin Pritchard Discusses Pacers’ Coaching Search

September 4th, 2020 at 1:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Communication and flexibility will be important as the Pacers begin their search for a new head coach, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard tells Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files.

The campus environment at Disney World gave Pritchard and GM Chad Buchanan a chance to spend more time than usual around their players and get an inside look at where they believe the franchise is headed. That experience led to the decision to replace Nate McMillan.

“As we were going through the playoffs, it was more challenging to see our players and our staff have felt like, at times, we look defeated,” Pritchard said. “That is something I don’t ever want to see on our players’ face. We want to be better than getting swept in the playoffs and when you look at the playoffs, I wanted to have some hope that we could win a game.”

McMillan, who had a year left on his contract, had been with the franchise since 2013 when he was hired as an assistant coach. He ranks fourth among Pacers coaches in career wins, but Agness notes that this season was difficult for the entire organization.

Indiana began the season with nine new players on its roster, including first-round pick Goga Bitadze, who had to miss Summer League because of a work visa issue. There were constant questions about injured guard Victor Oladipo, who didn’t return until late January, and Pacers players had nearly 200 total games missed due to injuries. The chaos of the hiatus and the restart led to another playoff sweep, the third in the past four years, which sealed McMillan’s fate.

Pritchard said he could see “some relief” in McMillan’s eyes when he broke the news.

“As we end the season, it feels like the last couple years, it’s ended with a bad taste in our mouth,” Pritchard said. “And for me, that is something that there had to be some changes. I take full responsibility.”

Indiana will look for a coach with a more creative offensive scheme and a willingness to take chances with young players. Agness notes that T.J. Leaf‘s season was virtually wasted with just 28 games played. Edmond Sumner wasn’t used in Games 2 and 3 against Miami, while Bitadze didn’t play at all in the postseason as Tyler Herro, who was taken five picks earlier, averaged 16.5 PPG in the series.

“Sometimes you have to make some sacrifices,” Pritchard said. “You have to play some players in the regular season to develop, and then ultimately be prepared more for the playoffs than you were for the regular season. And so that’s sort of out-of-the-box thinking is something that we we desperately need.”

Pacers Notes: Coaching Search, Oladipo, West

August 31st, 2020 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers intend to be open-minded when it comes to picking their next head coach, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard told reporters on Monday. As Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com writes, Pritchard said the Pacers would consider a college coach or an established veteran, and will focus on candidates who have the ability to connect with young players.

Pritchard said he has solicited advice from former Pacers forward David West, as well as Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard. Indiana’s head of basketball operations added that an ability to put together a reliable group of assistants will also be something the club takes into account.

“We’ve seen some of the hirings over the last few years, and they’re coming from all over the board,” Pritchard said, per Woodyard. “The way I’ve set up this process is, we want to start with a big pool then get down smaller and smaller. I don’t want to rule that out. If there’s an existing coach who has experience, who knows how to build a program, but maybe has a little mark or has something he needs to improve on.

“I believe this, that the head coach is critically important, but nowadays, that second, third and fourth coach almost are more important. So how they build out their structure and their coaching staff is critical.”

Here’s more on the Pacers:

Pritchard also said today that he wants to hire a head coach who takes a “modern approach” to the game, and suggested that the team won’t be compromised by financial constraints when making a hire (Twitter links via J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star). “He wants this to be a great organization,” Pritchard said of team owner Herb Simon. “If it was just about money, we probably wouldn’t have done what we did (firing Nate McMillan with money left on his contract).”
Pritchard said today that he sensed some “relief” from McMillan when the team informed him of the coaching change, according to Woodyard. “The coaching ranks in the NBA are ever changing, and I give Nate a ton of credit for instilling a hard-nosed tough culture here, and again, I really believe that he’ll get another job and get another job quickly if he wants to,” Pritchard said. “And boy, we would do anything we can to help him do that.” McMillan has said he likely won’t pursue a head coaching job for next season.
Victor Oladipo is entering a contract year in 2020/21, but Pritchard said he doesn’t feel “any rush to make a quick decision” on the two-time All-Star. “It will be up to him,” Pritchard said (Twitter links via J. Michael). “He will have the choice. It’s his first time to have autonomous choice. He can go and do whatever he wants.” There has been speculation that Oladipo could become a trade candidate if the Pacers get the impression he doesn’t want to remain in Indiana beyond 2021.
According to J. Michael (Twitter link), the Pacers have tried repeatedly to get David West to work for them. To date, however, West hasn’t been interested, since he’s involved in a number of enterprises and doesn’t want to commit to a single job.

McMillan Doesn’t Plan To Pursue Head Coaching Job For 2020/21

August 27th, 2020 at 2:41pm CST by Luke Adams

After being let go by the Pacers this week, veteran NBA coach Nate McMillan tells Bob Kravitz of The Athletic that he doesn’t anticipate seeking out a new head coaching job for the 2020/21 season.

“I’m going to take this year and just look at things,” McMillan said. “A lot has changed, the league and the game have changed, so I’ll take this year and see what happens, but I won’t get back into it this season.”

Several teams – the Bulls, Sixers, Nets, and Pelicans – are currently in the market for a new head coach and it’s possible others will join them as they’re eliminated from the postseason. McMillan’s strong 183-136 (.574) record over the last four seasons in Indiana would make him a viable candidate for some of those openings.

However, McMillan will continue to get paid by the Pacers for the 2020/21 season, so it makes sense that he’d prefer to take a step back and fully consider his options rather than jumping right back onto the coaching carousel.

As for his exit from Indiana, McMillan explained that he and the Pacers agreed to a modest contract extension before the NBA’s restart began in July — that deal was announced in August after rumors surfaced about his job security. When he agreed to the new contract, McMillan expected to have Domantas Sabonis available this summer and was anticipating a first-round series win.

“I thought about it and said, ‘Even though we hadn’t started the playoffs, I really thought at the time we were going to advance,'” McMillan told Kravitz. “I had all my players (except Jeremy Lamb). Domas was there. I always thought Victor (Oladipo) was going to play. We had everybody and I really thought we could get out of the first round. So I signed that extension thinking, ‘OK, next year we’ll be healthy and I’ll give it one more try.’

“And then we get down to the bubble and Domas has his injury and it was like, ‘Ohhhhh-kay,'” McMillan continued. “But I know what I said to myself and told the organization, for me, it was about getting out of the first round, so when the decision was made yesterday, I understood.”

McMillan also responded to criticism about his offensive system, which was viewed by some observers as outdated. The former Pacers coach explained that he wanted to play to the strengths of his roster, which included a pair of big men – Sabonis and Myles Turner – in the starting lineup.

“I would love to run. When I was a player, that’s the way I played,” McMillan told Kravitz. “But personnel dictates your style of play.”

Pacers Notes: McMillan, Oladipo, Turner, Warren

August 26th, 2020 at 2:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers fired head coach Nate McMillan today, and sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that McMillan’s apparent resistance to some modern offensive philosophies was a factor in that decision.

As Amick explains, McMillan is a coach with “old-school sensibilities (and) a defense-first approach” whose offense relied more on mid-range shots than three-pointers — the Pacers ranked last in the NBA this season in three-pointers per game. President of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard viewed McMillan’s offensive approach as an “inopportune fit,” according to Amick.

Taking that into account, it’s no surprise that Mike D’Antoni was the first head coaching target linked to the Pacers. Amick says he expects Indiana’s next coach to have an offense-first philosophy.

Here’s more on the Pacers:

As Victor Oladipo enters a contract year, his situation is worth monitoring this offseason. Amick wonders if playing for an offense-first coach like D’Antoni might convince Oladipo to remain in Indiana long-term, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report says a number of executives around the league believe the two-time All-Star is a candidate to hit the trade block this offseason.
Asked about his future with the Pacers this week, Oladipo said he’s not thinking about that right now and is no rush to make any decisions, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “I know what I need to focus on, what I need to do to make sure my knee gets stronger and better and what I need to do to get better as a person and a player,” Oladipo said. “I learned a lot from this year, and I learned a lot from this series, so I just got to continue to keep working.”
Speaking to reporters after the Pacers’ elimination, big man Myles Turner expressed frustration with the team’s fifth consecutive first round exit, writes Bontemps. “At some point, you have to get over the hump, man,” Turner said. “Five years of being in the playoffs, five first-round exits. So me, personally, I take that s–t personally. You gotta find a way.”
Count Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra among those who wasn’t a fan of the Pacers’ decision to fire McMillan. Spoelstra said today that McMillan’s ouster was “totally ridiculous” and was critical of the “media fake extension” that Indiana gave him earlier this month (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald). That contract extension reportedly just added a team option to McMillan’s deal, rather than any guaranteed seasons.
In an Insider article for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks previews the Pacers’ offseason, including looming decisions on Oladipo and T.J. Warren. As Marks observes, Warren will be extension-eligible, but Indiana can’t offer more than $49.3MM over three years.

Pacers Fire Head Coach Nate McMillan

August 26th, 2020 at 10:31am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have relieved Nate McMillan of his head coaching duties, the team announced today in a press release.

“On behalf of the Simon family and the Pacers organization, I’d like to thank Nate for his years with the team,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “This was a very hard decision for us to make; but we feel it’s in the best interest of the organization to move in a different direction. Nate and I have been through the good times and the bad times; and it was an honor to work with him for those 11 years (in Indiana and Portland).”

The move comes as a surprise, since the Pacers just signed McMillan to a one-year contract extension earlier this month. However, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says (via Twitter) that “soft” extension involved a reworking of McMillan’s deal for 2020/21, with a team option added for ’21/22, so it sounds like Indiana didn’t cost itself much money by changing course just two weeks later.

McMillan, 56, guided the Pacers to a 183-136 (.574) record over the last four seasons, earning four consecutive playoff berths during that stretch. Indiana’s 45-28 (.616) mark this season represented the club’s highest winning percentage since 2013/14.

McMillan, who is well-respected around the NBA, had generally 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. The team’s quick playoff exit this season at the hands of the Heat came without injured starters Domantas Sabonis and Jeremy Lamb available.

However, that loss to the Heat represented Indiana’s fourth consecutive first-round exit, and there had been some chatter about a need to modernize the team’s offense, which ranked last in the NBA this season in three-point attempts per game (28.0). In an unusual move, the Pacers mentioned McMillan’s 3-16 postseason record in their announcement on his dismissal today, a signal that his lack of playoff success was a major factor in the club’s decision.

ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe noted on a podcast earlier this month that there had been speculation around the league in recent months about McMillan being on the hot seat in Indiana.

The Pacers will begin their search for a new head coach immediately, according to today’s announcement. They’ll be vying with the Nets, Sixers, Bulls, and Pelicans for the top candidates on the market, becoming the sixth team to launch a coaching search in 2020 (the Knicks are the only club to have completed the process so far).

According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), current Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni will become an Indiana target if Houston decides to make a coaching change of its own. The Pacers will also explore a pool of candidates they’d consider “program builders,” sources tell Woj (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacers Sign Nate McMillan To Contract Extension

August 12th, 2020 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

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 Notes: McMillan, Warren, Bitadze

August 7th, 2020 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

Mike Budenholzer, Billy Donovan Win Coaches Association Award

August 3rd, 2020 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

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.

Central Notes: Oladipo, Bitadze, Kornet, Sabonis

July 30th, 2020 at 7:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pacers head coach Nate McMillan states that star shooting guard Victor Oladipo, whose status for the NBA’s season restart has remained uncertain, will be a game-day decision for Indiana’s first seeding game in Orlando on Saturday, according to Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

“He went through practice today, he’ll go through practice tomorrow and like any other one of our players, we’ll see who’s available for Saturday,” McMillan said. Oladipo did play in all three of the Pacers’ scrimmages in Orlando.

Here are more notes from around the Central Division:

McMillan also said this week that Pacers rookie center Goga Bitadze, the No. 18 pick in the 2019 draft, remains “a couple of weeks away” from being able to suit up for Indiana, according to J. Michael of the Indy Star (Twitter link). McMillan indicated last week that Bitadze is struggling with a soft-tissue injury.
Bulls bench center Luke Kornet had a disappointing first season in Chicago, as Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago details. Kornet, who inked a two-year, $4.5 MM contract with the club last summer, was roundly outplayed by second-round rookie Daniel Gafford, and averaged just 6.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.7 BPG.
With the team’s lone 2019/20 All-Star Domantas Sabonis away from the NBA’s restart campus dealing with plantar fasciitis, the Pacers are now looking to take a small-ball approach to their seeding games and subsequent playoff run, according to Mark Montieth of Pacers.com.