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.
Bjorkgren did not get to pick the Indiana Pacers roster
Sure, he knew what the roster looked like when he took the job, but a shortened offseason and limited cap space did not help Bjorkgren shape the roster to his liking. I’m not exactly sure how much different his own version of the roster would look, and injuries certainly play into some of that as well, but Bjorkgren needs to get his type of guys.
Toronto thrived with two-way wings that developed into high-quality role players, most notably Norman Powell and OG Anunoby. Of course, Toronto also traded for one of the best wings in the NBA in Kawhi Leonard.
Running a two-big lineup with Turner and Sabonis has clearly not worked under Bjorkgren and that should not simply be blamed on him not maximizing those two. Two-center lineups are not the way to run an NBA team in today’s era and the Pacers need to come to terms with that.
Indiana is in a prime position to shake things up this offseason and bring in a completely new roster if Bjorkgren wishes to do so. They have the ammo to trade either a lottery pick or one of the bigs and bring in someone who can thrive on the wing. Malcolm Brogdon is another name to watch in the trade market.
If Nate returns next season, I would expect an entirely new look from the Pacers.
The Indiana Pacers have offense!
The biggest problem with Nate McMillan for many Pacers fans – myself included – was his lack of creativity on offense and a pretty underwhelming output on that end. WIth Bjorkgren, the Pacers have improved their scoring and three-point attempts, which were not great under the last coaching staff.
While Bjorkgren’s coaching has sacrificed defense in a major way, the offense has a lot of potential with Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert. If Indiana can sort out the defense, perhaps by hiring a defensive-minded assistant, there is still potential in the building.
I would be excited to see this team with an Anunoby-like wing to help carry the load defensively while letting Caris continue to work as a primary ball-handler. They could also seek offensive creators in this year’s draft, a class that features a lot of talented scorers and shooters.
I’m not saying Nate’s offense is perfect but the spike in points from last season is worth noting. Indiana jumped from roughly 107 points per game last year to 115 points per contest under Bjorkgren. Scoring is the foundation of basketball and teams who do that at a high clip will have success.
This is a tricky situation and I think Bjorkgren’s time is up after this season but he was not given the best situation to enter.