The 2021 season was a tale of two halves for the Atlanta Hawks. In one half, you had a team that went 14-20, ranked at around the league average in net rating (-0.1) and seemed to be heading toward year four of their playoff drought. There were rumors of unhappiness within the organization. It was an ugly scene.
It was at that point that Lloyd Pierce was fired and Nate McMillan, who had spent the last four seasons as the Pacers head coach and was just hired as an assistant prior to the 2020-21 season, stepped in as the interim head coach. It was at that point that the Hawks went 27-11 throughout the rest of the year, tied with the 76ers for the best record in the Eastern Conference throughout the final 38 games. It was at that point that their net rating (+4.6) shot up for the remainder of the season and ultimately ranked No. 7 in the league under McMillan's guidance. Now, they've not only made the playoffs but advanced to the second round with a fairly convincing 4-1 victory over the New York Knicks. Heck, they have a real decent shot at upsetting the No. 1 seed 76ers so long as Joel Embiid is sidelined.
Things are looking up, and questions we previously had have been answered... but not all of them. For instance, one big question still remains: will Nate McMillan be announced as the full-time head coach, and if so, when should we expect that to happen? Or maybe we should even ask why it hasn't happened already, considering the drastic turnaround and the current, extremely positive vibes in the world of Atlanta basketball?
Luckily, the face of the franchise isn't concerned. Trae Young joined The Big Tigger Morning Show on V-103 and discussed his thoughts surround McMillan's future with the organization.
"I'm not surprised they haven't announced because, I don't know, it could become a distraction," Young said. "I think everybody kind of knows what's going to be coming. We're all winning, so it's not anything that I feel like he should be worried about or anything like that.
"It's just the timing. We're in the playoffs, it's the end of the season. I don't think it's something they want to take away from the team right now. I mean, obviously, he's done a great job with helping us turn this around, so I'd be surprised if he's not with us next year."
Listen to the full interview below!
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