Indiana Pacers: Does Nate McMillan’s firing impact Victor Oladipo’s decision?
What are the Indiana Pacers thinking after firing McMillan?
As surprising as it was to see the Indiana Pacers fire Nate McMillan after defying odds for the team this season, you can’t help but wonder if there was something deeper and bigger at play here.
McMillan helped lead the Pacers to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with Victor Oladipo, the team’s best player, out for most of the season. Even when he did return pre and post-hiatus, he was a shell of his former self.
Still, the Pacers were a top 4 seed in the East before losing in the first round of the playoffs to a better and deeper Miami Heat team. It should be noted that the Pacers had to compete in the restart without Domantas Sabonis as well.
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Shortly after being swept by a red-hot Miami Heat team, it was announced that the Pacers were parting ways with McMillan. What made it that much more confusing was the fact that the Pacers had just given McMillan a contract extension two weeks before his firing was announced.
There is no real explanation, no matter how it’s concluded. McMillan was forced to coach the Pacers for the better part of the last two seasons without the team’s best player and emerged impressive time and time again.
He was put in a no-win situation this year in the playoffs and took the fall for a team that was set up to fail. With that said, I can’t help but wonder if this has any correlation with Victor Oladipo’s impending free agency.
Whispers continue to grow (subscription required) around the fact that Oladipo could be on his way out and wonder if this firing was a last-ditch move to try and appease him before his decision. Oladipo could sign an extension this summer to avoid free agency, but that seems highly unlikely.
Even if the Pacers wanted to keep Oladipo long-term, I’m not sure how you even value him. He hasn’t been his all-star self since his injury and looking at his career overall, you can make the argument that he’s had one and a half outlier seasons. Not great.
Next. Indiana Pacers: T.J. Warren put the NBA on notice in Orlando. dark
More reporting has to be done, but after the way, the Pacers’ season concluded you can’t help but wonder what awaits this team in the offseason.