Nate Bjorkgren to be named Pacers head coach

The Indiana Pacers made a somewhat surprising decision to fire Nate McMillan over a month ago, and they are replacing him with a coach who has championship experience.

Toronto Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren has reached an agreement to become the next head coach of the Pacers, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.

Bjorkgren had been with the Raptors since 2018 and was on Nick Nurse’s staff last year when the team won an NBA title. The 45-year-old was an assistant with the Phoenix Suns before that. He also spent time as a head coach in the G League but has no previous head coaching experience in the NBA.

The Pacers were said to be targeting Mike D’Antoni after they fired McMillan, but that did not work out.

Indiana was the No. 4 seed heading into the playoffs in the NBA bubble in Orlando. They were swept by the Miami Heat in the first round. That series doesn’t look quite as bad after the Heat reached the NBA Finals, but the Pacers were obviously ready to move on from McMillan.