Nate McMillan
The latest: The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly not considering Nate McMillan for their coaching vacancy.
The skinny: After spending his entire 12-year playing career with the Seattle Supersonics, McMillan retired and immediately took on an assistant role with the franchise, taking over as head coach two years later. After five seasons with the Supersonics — winning the division in his final year — McMillan left Seattle, taking the head coaching position with the Portland Trail Blazers. McMillan led the Blazers to two losing seasons, followed by one year at .500, followed by three consecutive winning seasons — but never got the Blazers out of the first round of the playoffs. He was fired 43 games into the 2011-12 season.
McMillan is a disciplinarian that’s known as a defensive coach, though his teams have never really reflected that; not one of his teams in Portland finished in the top 10 of the league defensively. More notably is McMillan’s commitment to slow the game down: every one of his Portland teams finished in the bottom 3 in the league in possessions per game, finishing last in each of his final three years with the franchise.
The verdict: McMillan isn’t a bad last resort candidate should the Nets strike out on their choices ahead of him, but I’d be concerned about “more of the same” with McMillan: a slow, deliberate pace without much creativity.
Next: Doc Rivers
Larry Brown | Mike Dunleavy | Lionel Hollins | Phil Jackson | Nate McMillan | Doc Rivers | Brian Shaw | Scott Skiles | Jerry Sloan | Jeff Van Gundy | Stan Van Gundy
