Indiana Pacers Make Far Too Simple Decision To Promote Nate McMillan To Head Coach

A little over a week after a decision not to renew Frank Vogel‘s contract, the Indiana Pacers have found a replacement. On Saturday night, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical and Yahoo! Sports was first to report that a deal is being finalized to make Nate McMillan the Pacers’ new head coach.

McMillan was an assistant coach under Vogel for the last three seasons, but he has 12 seasons of experience as an NBA head coach with the Seattle Supersonics and Portland Trail Blazers with a combined regular season of 478-452 (14-20 playoff record).

Pacers president Larry Bird lamented the need for a new voice in the locker room, so the choice to promote someone from Vogel’s staff looks questionable right off the bat. Bird also stated a desire to play at a faster pace, and McMillan’s teams ranked in the bottom three of the league in pace seven times over his 12 seasons in Seattle and Portland. That could be excused by an entirely different style of basketball being successful around the league, but remember McMillan’s final season as head coach of the Trail Blazers was not all that long ago in the bigger picture (2011-12).

It’s surely possible that McMillan is willing, and more importantly able, to adjust his now-antiquated offensive philosophy. It’s likely he conveyed that to Bird and other people in the Pacers’ organization during his interview, but it remains to be seen if McMillan can do offensively what Vogel was unable or unwilling to do.

McMillan may have been the best candidate for the Pacers, and I had him No. 1 on my own list of candidates to replace Vogel. But promoting from within reeks of a financial decision, since Vogel’s success level as Pacers coach put him in line for a raise in a new contract. McMillan surely stood out as a cheaper option, with another head coaching opportunity worth it for him to agree to what amounts to a contract extension and a bump in pay.