After just one season into his tenure with the Indiana Pacers, Nate Bjorkgren was given the boot. Bjorkgren and the Pacers went through a tumultuous season in which he lost the locker room. Indiana made the play-in tournament but fell short in the second game against the Washington Wizards.
While it was a tough season for Indiana, there's a stellar foundation currently in place when healthy in the form of a starting lineup featuring Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, T.J. Warren, Domantas Sabonis, and Myles Turner. Under the right coaching direction, this team would thrive and excel to the next level and potentially be a top-four team in the Eastern Conference.
With the Pacers looking for a new coach, let's take a deep dive into the four best coaching fits for this squad.
Chauncey Billups
In Chauncey Billups, the Pacers would gain a former NBA All-Star, champion, and Finals MVP who was a great leader on and off the court. He earned the respect of his teammates and knew how to lead by example. If there’s anybody who knows about selfless, team-oriented basketball, it’s Mr. Big Shot.
Billups had made a name for himself as an insightful and intelligent analyst who knew the game inside-out on ESPN. Now having brought that knowledge to the Clippers as Ty Lue's lead assistant, Billups has made another stride toward a head coaching opportunity. After all, he is the ideal candidate who could make this a great two-way team that's lethal in transition and dominant in the half court.
Under Billups, the Pacers could become a dark-horse playoff contender and further showcase that selfless and fundamental team basketball has the ability to take the league by storm and shock the world like his Detroit Pistons did back in 2004.
One issue with Billups, however, is he hasn't been a head coach before. The Pacers are rumored to be looking for a coach with experience.
Becky Hammon
This is a perfect fit and an amazing opportunity to witness the next great mind in professional basketball. Becky Hammon is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in WNBA history, but now as one of the lead assistants on Gregg Popovich’s staff in San Antonio, she has proven she can lead with the best of them.
She would be the perfect hire for a team in desperate need of a culture change. Having already coached the Spurs to a Summer League championship, Hammon has shown the grit and determination it takes to lead a squad to the promise land. During her tenure as an assistant coach with the Spurs, Hammon has done great work with player development and mentorship and at times has even been Gregg Popovich’s go-to assistant for play-calling in late-game situations.
Her track record speaks for itself as both a player and assistant coach, but now it’s time she gets the opportunity to become the head coach of an NBA franchise. With the Pacers, Hammon could take the reins of a small-market team with great potential and transform them into the next great surprise in the East. With this hire, the future of the Pacers would look very bright.
Like Billups, though, Hammon isn't an experienced NBA head coach.
Kenny Atkinson
It’s safe to say Kenny Atkinson got the shaft when he was ousted in Brooklyn, especially when you consider the remarkable turnaround he made with that franchise when he took them from lottery team to playoff contender in just a couple of years. Having said that, unpredictability just happens to be the nature of this business. One team's failure most certainly can be another’s success.
Enter the Pacers, a squad with the potential to be legitimate playoff contenders in the East. This is where Atkinson could come in and turn the Pacers around by building this team into a fierce playoff contender while continuing to develop the roster. It could be just the hire this team needs for a complete reversal of fortune.
One of the major accomplishments Atkinson had during his tenure with the Nets was developing the games of Spencer Dinwiddie and D’Angelo Russell and transforming them into All-Star-caliber guards. With Atkinson as head coach, the Pacers would have the right leader on the sideline who could elevate them to postseason contention.
Terry Stotts
After a long coaching tenure with the Portland Trail Blazers in which they made the playoff eight times in nine seasons, Terry Stotts has now hit the market and is seeking a new employer. Already high up on Indiana's radar, Stotts could bring a new element to the franchise and make them a more fluid offensive team with a stronger defensive tenacity.
This would make them a tough out for anybody come playoff time, especially with the talent already in place on the roster. The Pacers have the type of multi-skilled players who would be perfect for Stotts' system. Under Stotts, Indy could see a huge transformation in postseason success.
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