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Report: Pacers set to promote assistant McMillan to head coach

Chris Keane/Special to the Oregonian

A little over a week after the Indiana Pacers announced Frank Vogel's contract wouldn't be renewed, they appear to have found their new head coach - and they didn't look far to find him.

The franchise is finalizing a deal with assistant Nate McMillan to promote him to head coach, league sources told The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski.

McMillan was reportedly offered the position following his interview late this week, with the two parties going over contract details on Saturday.

Other names rumored as candidates for the job included Mike D'Antoni, Jeff Hornacek, Randy Wittman, Brian Shaw, and Mark Jackson.

Indiana hired McMillan, 51, as an associate head coach prior to the start of the 2013-14 campaign.

He previously served as head coach for the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers for 12 years, accumulating a 478-452 record (.514). Portland fired McMillan after starting the 2011-12 season 20-23, one year after taking the Trail Blazers to the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference at 48-34.

Team president Larry Bird emphasized during his May 5 news conference that he wanted Indiana to focus more attention on the offensive end, because "it's all about scoring some points." The Pacers scored 102.4 points per 100 possessions, good enough for 23rd in the NBA.

In McMillan's 12 seasons as a head coach, his teams finished in the bottom third of the NBA in pace (possessions per 48 minutes) on seven occasions. He has coached four top-five offenses, though, which offers hope that he can meet Bird's expectations of turning Indiana into a high-octane scoring machine.

Bird also said he wanted a "new voice" to lead the team, but has apparently hired someone who's been with the organization for the past three seasons.

The Pacers finished 2015-16 with a 45-37 record as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They were eventually bounced from the playoffs by the Toronto Raptors in a competitive seven-game series.

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