Hawks to make McMillan full-time coach after playoff run

After leading the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference final, interim coach Nate McMillan will be rewarded with a more secure contract.

Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk told reporters Monday on a conference call that “an agreement in place in principal” was finalized with McMillan. “We’re just drawing up the contract,” Schlenk said, via the Associated Press.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported the Hawks and McMillan reached a deal Monday to shed the interim title and make the 56-year-old the team’s full-on head coach. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the deal will be four years.

McMillan became Atlanta’s interim coach after Lloyd Pierce was fired after a 14-20 start to the season. The Hawks turned their season around under McMillan, who joined Atlanta this year after four years at the helm of the Indiana Pacers. McMillan’s record with the Pacers was 183-136 with playoff appearances each year. But he was fired after losing his fourth straight first-round series.

The Hawks finished the season on a 27-11 run under McMillan, securing the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. They went on to beat the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers before the Milwaukee Bucks upended Atlanta in six games in the conference final.

But Schlenk told reporters McMillan convinced him he was the coach for the job even before that playoff run.

“At some point during the regular season I went to Nate and told him the job was his if he wanted it, and we both agreed to wait until after the season to formalize it,” Schlenk said.

Atlanta benefited from the breakout performances of several young players, with Trae Young leading the way. Former Maryland standout Kevin Huerter also shined in the playoffs.

McMillan began his head coaching career with the Seattle Supersonics for five years before joining the Portland Trail Blazers for seven seasons. That experience may have helped McMillan guide a young team on a long playoff run.

“I just believe he’s unbelievably consistent,” Schlenk said. “There’s no back and forth. Once he says this is what we’re going to do, he’s consistent with it, and because of that consistency, I believe the players believe in it. When somebody tells you something one day and the opposite the next day, it’s hard to have that trust. But with him, he’s unbelievably consistent with his views, and his guys bought into it.”