The Atlanta Hawks are nearing a deal to add former Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan as an assistant on Lloyd Pierce’s staff, according to The New York Times‘ Marc Stein.
Back on Aug. 12, while the Pacers and an assortment of other NBA teams were residing in the Orlando bubble, McMillan agreed to a one-year contract extension with the team he had helmed for four seasons. Strangely enough, only 14 days later — after Indiana was ousted from the playoffs in the first round (the fifth-straight year this had happened) by the Miami Heat — he was fired and eventually replaced by former Toronto Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren.
McMillan’s 183 victories as head coach with the Pacers rank third-most in the franchise’s history and, despite the post-season troubles his teams encountered, they always cleared the bar of at least making the playoffs, something that’s not particularly easy to achieve.
The Hawks, who sported a dismal 20-47 record (second-worst in the East to only the Cleveland Cavaliers) in 2019-20 but are headlined by an exciting young talent in Trae Young, will welcome his experience as they attempt to leap that hurdle themselves for the first time since 2017.
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