Rockets could have competition from Atlanta for Nate McMillan

The Rockets have spoken to McMillan about being an assistant coach on the new staff of Stephen Silas. However, Atlanta also has interest.

The Houston Rockets do not appear to be the only NBA team interested in the services of veteran head coach Nate McMillan as an assistant.

Per Marc Stein of The New York Times, the Atlanta Hawks are also interested in McMillan as an assistant on the bench of Lloyd Pierce.

From Houston’s perspective, McMillan’s prior experience as a head coach could mitigate some of the risk with Stephen Silas, who is taking a lead NBA job for the first time. McMillan’s defensive background would also seem to be a good contrast with Silas, who is well regarded for offense.

Now 56 years old, McMillan has served as head coach with three different teams: the Seattle SuperSonics (2000-2005), the Portland Trail Blazers (2005-2012), and most recently, the Indiana Pacers (2016-2020). Known as a player for pesky defense, that trait has seemingly translated well to McMillan’s coaching style, with the Pacers ranking third and sixth in the NBA in net defensive rating over the last two seasons.

On paper, the Rockets — who were 44-28 and No. 4 in the Western Conference last season — would seem to be a better fit for a veteran coach like McMillan than the Hawks, who were 20-47. That record was second-to-last in the East. But with no salary cap on coaching hires, Atlanta might offset that if they come in with a strong financial bid.

Other assistant coaches who are reportedly on Houston’s radar to work with Silas include Jeff Hornacek and John Lucas. The timetable for reaching agreements with any assistant coaches is not yet clear.

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