Raptors’ assistant hired as Pacers’ coach

Indiana wanted its next head coach to take the franchise in a new direction.

The Pacers were seeking someone who could communicate with today’s players, who was open to a new offensive philosophy and who could win some postseason games.

On Tuesday, president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard found his man in Toronto assistant Nate Bjorkgren, a former head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors.

“Nate is the right coach for us at the right time,” Pritchard said in a statement. “He comes from a winning background, has experienced championship success, is innovative and his communication skills along with his positivity are tremendous.”

Terms were not immediately available though several reports said Bjorkgren, 45, agreed to a multiyear deal to replace the fired Nate McMillan.

Bjorkgren comes to Indiana after spending two seasons as an assistant on Nick Nurse’s staff in Toronto. There, Bjorkgren helped the Raptors earn their first NBA championship in 201819 over the Warriors and was part of a team that grabbed the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed each of the past two seasons.

He also won a GLeague title while working for Nurse in 201011 with the Iowa Energy.

“This is something I have prepared for during my career,” Bjorkgren said in a statement. “I also want to thank Nick Nurse for giving me my first professional coaching job 14 years ago. I’m looking forward to working with this great team to achieve our goal as NBA champions.”

Bjorkgren replaces McMillan, who was fired Aug. 26 just two weeks after agreeing to a contract extension through the 202122 season. In four seasons with Indiana, McMillan went 183136, producing the fourthhighest victory total in franchise history. But he was 316 in the postseason.

The Los Angeles Clippers finally confirmed their hiring of Tyronn Lue to replace Doc Rivers as head coach. The hiring was reported last week.