McMillan hired as Hawks head coach on permanent deal
Nate McMillan led the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals after Lloyd Pierce was fired and has been rewarded with a four-year contract.
The Atlanta Hawks have reached an agreement to make Nate McMillan their head coach on a permanent basis.
McMillan took over as interim head coach in March, being promoted from assistant after Lloyd Pierce was fired.
He improbably led the Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals as the fifth seed, with Atlanta's remarkable season ended by a Game 6 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since McMillan took over on March 1, only the Phoenix Suns (41), who will face the Bucks in the NBA Finals, have compiled more wins than the Hawks (37) across the regular season and postseason.
And he has been rewarded by having his interim tag removed and receiving a four-year deal.
Atlanta president and general manager Travis Schlenk confirmed the agreement on a conference call with reporters.
Hawks happy with McMillan's pedigree
McMillan has made the playoffs in 10 of the 17 seasons in which he has served as a head coach. In that time, he has racked up 715 wins across the regular season and postseason.
His record of 715-643 gives him a winning percentage of 52.7 that puts him 23rd among head coaches to have taken charge of at least 1,000 games.
With an exciting core led by point guard Trae Young, McMillan looks to be in an excellent position to improve that record.
Only Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers (511) has scored more points in this postseason than the 461 Young racked up despite missing two games of the Conference Finals loss to the Bucks through injury.
Atlanta holds picks 20 (first round) and 48 (second round) in this month's NBA Draft.