Indiana Pacers assistant coach Nate McMillan. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Indiana Pacers are set to promote assistant coach Nate McMillan to the team's vacant head coaching job following the expiration of head coach Frank Vogel's contract almost two weeks ago.
Team president Larry Bird said on May 5 that Vogel's contract with the Pacers will not be renewed this summer as he believes the Pacers need "a new voice" moving forward.
After considering several candidates for the position, Bird and company are currently "finalizing" a deal to sign Indiana's existing assistant bench tactician, McMillan, to lead the team next season, ESPN reported.
The 51-year-old McMillan had been on the Pacers' bench since the 2013-2014 season. He replaced Brian Shaw, who was hired by the Denver Nuggets that time as their head coach, that time as an integral part of Vogel's crew.
McMillan was also the bench boss of the Seattle Supersonics from 2000 to 2005 and Portland Trail Blazers from 2005 to 2012. He was also part of USA Basketball's coaching crew that won the gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics.
The former Sonic was actually part of the shortlist of candidates to replace George Karl as the Sacramento Kings head coach next season, but the Kings chose former Memphis Grizzlies boss Dave Joerger instead.
After losing to the Toronto Raptors in this year's playoffs, 3-4, Bird previously reiterated his preference to score more points in their next campaign. However, McMillan is more known as a defensive-minded coach.
"I'd like to score more points than what we're scoring," said Bird. "Defense with (assistant coach) Dan Burke has been great, like it has been every year. It's all about scoring points. If your defense is better, you don't have to score as many, but you'd like to score as many as you can."
Indy Star noted that while "McMillan has a reputation as a defensive-minded coach" he also runs "an efficient offense" as well, which may be the reason why Bird chose him.
The report said that his Portland teams were "down-tempo and deliberate" and at no time averaged more than 100 points per game in his seven seasons there. His teams have also been included in the bottom quarter of the league throughout the years in terms of pace of play.
However, it is a different story when it comes to offensive production as "five of the McMillan-led teams in Seattle and Portland ranked within the top 10 overall," the article continued.
