The Atlanta Hawks have reached an agreement with Nate McMillan to make him the team’s permanent coach, general manager Travis Schlenk said Monday.
ESPN reports that it’s a four-year deal.
The Hawks blossomed as a contender under McMillan’s leadership after he took over for fired coach Lloyd Pierce in March. The Hawks had been struggling to gel, starting 14-20 following an active offseason that surrounded star Trae Young with veterans like Danilo Gallinari, Solomon Hill and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Under McMillan, the Hawks surged to 27-11, with a 10-8 mark in the playoffs. Atlanta defeated the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday.
Schlenk offered these thoughts on McMillan after the March 1 move: “I have a ton of respect for his humility that he has on the sideline and just his ability to create a sense of calm with the guys. … That’s one of the things he preaches is stay calm, stay calm.”
McMillan has previously coached in Seattle, Portland, and, most recently, Indiana, where he went 45-28 in 2019-20 before being fired. He was hired as an assistant in Atlanta on Nov. 11 of last year. Overall, he has a 688-599 mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
–Field Level Media