Indiana Pacers: 3 reasons Nate Bjorkgren should not be fired
By Luke Parrish
Indiana Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren is already on the hot seat.
Nate Bjorkgren’s first season as head coach of the Indiana Pacers is quickly heading to a dark place. After a report came out that he has some poor relationships within the organization, his team fell off the rails in a loss to the Kings.
With everything seeming to point toward an ugly end to his time in Indiana, it should not be all on his shoulders. What are some of the reasons why Bjrokgren should get one more season to prove himself?
Injuries have held the Indiana Pacers back
While injuries are always part of the game and teams have to adjust accordingly, the Pacers have dealt with an absurd amount of missed time this season. T.J. Warren has basically been on the shelf for the entirety of the campaign after exploding in the bubble last season. He was on track to be the team’s most dangerous piece on offense as a three-level scorer.
Trading for Caris LeVert was a slow process after he was forced to miss two months – although the missed time was worth it. The post-trade physical might have saved Caris’ life and that’s all we can ask for.
A number of other nagging injuries have made the lightly lineup a massive guessing game. Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, Doug McDermott, Goga Bitadze, and Myles Turner have all hit the injury report, many of which came at the same time.
If Nate is given a chance to work things out with a healthy roster, I think we will have a better sense of who he is as a coach and what he brings to the table.