The bench dance for the 2021-22 course has begun. Boston, Portland and Charlotte are looking for a new tenant, and that list could be joined by others like Indiana. The Pacers ended their season by losing in the tournament play-in against Washington, but before that the continuity of Nate Bjorkgren in front of the locker room was already in question. Now, with the prospect of signing Terry Stotts after his departure from the Blazers, there seems to be new momentum for a turn of the tiller.
Although Bjorkgren has led the Indianapolis organization for only one campaign, his methods seem to have failed to convince. At the beginning of May, Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN explained that the coach’s style of training and communication, both on the court and in the locker room and in individual settings with players and staff, had often created team confusion. And in case there was no evidence that things were not going well, IndyStar it claimed shortly after that Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon had requested the dismissal of Bjorkgren.
And so we come to the present, one in which the head coach he maintains his position at the expense of the franchise ratifying it … or firing. Team president Kevin Pritchard has only said that he will have multiple meetings with Bjorkgren before making a determination. “Nate and I will have a long conversation over many days about what needs to be improved. He’s our coach and I’ll have a fair conversation with him, he points out to Bob Kravitz from The Athletic.
Making a change is a real option, but it is even more so given that now they seem to have a substitute on the horizon that convinces them. Terry Stotts is free, and according to Jason Quick and Shams Charania of The Athletic he is seen as a candidate to fill the Indiana bench if they choose to stop having Bjorkgren.
For the Pacers it would be a major turn of the wheel. They would go from having a novice technician to incorporating another with much more experience and proven effectiveness. Stotts has led three teams over 13 years as head coach, and of those he has spent the last nine managing Portland, a team that has led to the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. His greatest success came in 2019, when he reached the Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Perhaps seeing what you could do together is intriguing to both parties. Indiana finished the current season 34-38 despite suffering many injuries. The reality is that the Pacers have a roster balanced in which there is no lack of talent. Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, TJ Warren, Myles Turner… There are certainly twins to work with; now it remains to be seen who does it.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
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